Yesterday for Tomorrow
by Growlmon1
Summary: Unknowingly linked together by similar pasts, a small group of teenagers find themselves fighting for their lives. Among this chaos only two know how it must end; by facing the pasts they've spent their lives running away from. There they will find the answer. However, one must regain the fire that burned out so long ago. The other must return the light upon their dark world.
1. Prologue

**Hello fellow readers and writers, thank you for stopping by to read this story. Now for some of you it may seem familiar, and that is because this is a remake of my Digimon fic "Best Friends", this time going by a new title "Deadly Secrets" (Bad title? Probably). For those you haven't read that I should let you know that this is a story featuring the pairing Takuya/Kari, a new and rare couple that was started by one of my fics (I deleted it, but I'm planning on bringing it back eventually). Fortunately there are two authors who have written their own as well, Sightbent and TakuyaxKari. If there are anymore I'm sorry that I didn't mention you, but the reason is probably because I haven't read your fic yet. Now I will stop rambling and tell you what this story will be about. **

**"Deadly Secrets": **An exposed secret forces the Yagami family to flee from their home, and not fitting in at her new school if the least of Hikari's problem. With her mother busy looking for a job and her brother Taichi doing his best to take care of them both, Hikari finds herself fearful and alone. Meanwhile Takuya Kanbara is a shy boy with a tragic past of his own, of course having a new student in his class is nothing to even acknowledge. However, after an accident that brings them together, they soon discover the same nightmare that took place in their pasts puts them and their loved ones in a dilemma. Their team, whilst trying to find out why fate brought them to each other, stumble upon the secrets that should've been left alone.

**Yes, this one, at least I hope it gives off the impression, is quite a mystery. This should be a long story, so I'll try to keep it so that the readers of this story will stay interested. No more notes except that updates shouldn't be long, as it is summer (and I'm looking forward to continuing this one).** **I'll quit talking now and let you all begin reading...**

* * *

**_Prologue_**

_Seven Years Ago_

"..."

"..."

"... 911, what's your emergency?" No response from the other end. "Hello? Hello? Please stay on the line, we're tracing your call."

The cordless phone lay motionless on the counter top, about five feet away stood a young boy, peering around the corner. Seeing that the coast was clear, the child quietly moved from one step to another, he moved as fast as he could without making noise, as to not give his presence away to the intruders. Upon reaching the final step leading to the second floor of the household, he quietly slipped into the bathroom, connecting to the master bedroom. It was dark, a result from the power being cut, but now wasn't a time to be scared, at least, not yet. A faint light shone from his parents' bedroom and into the bathroom, he'd have to make the best of it. By the time He crept his way to the other door, the young boy could hear sirens. The two men snapped their heads up at the sound.

"Damn it!" one of the swore. "Come on, we gotta get outta here!" Wielding a sharp object in his hand, he swiped at the father's throat. The boy only saw a line across his father's neck, soon the dark red, thick liquid started to splurge out. A struggled scream erupted from the older man's mouth as he choked on his own blood. His mother was sprawled out on the bed, not moving. As the sirens got louder, the two men bolted from the room, down the stairs, and out the back door.

The young child ran straight to his father's side, shaking him. "Dad? Dad?" When he didn't reply, he jumped on the bed and did the same to his mother. "Mom? Mom!" He heard footsteps downstairs, and saw the flashing lights through the windows, but he was frozen, even as the police officers walked into the room.

A male officer approached the frightened boy. "Are you alright? What's your name, son?" He didn't receive an answer from the six-year-old, and with a sigh, escorted him out of the room.

Ten minutes later, he sat on a stretcher, holding a cup of juice in his hand. The same officer stood by him, watch the two stretchers carry the bodies into the ambulance. The young boy wasn't naive, in fact he was very intelligent for his age, and he'd watched enough crime shows to know it was his mother and father underneath those sheets. The meaning of the sheets, he knew that too, his parents had been murdered, and he'd done absolutely nothing to prevent it.

Knowing that the boy was nearly out of shock, the officer asked, "What's your name, son?"

"... Takuya Kanbara."

No sooner had he introduced himself were there cries of, "Takuya! Takuya, what happened?" A woman in her mid-thirties ran over and embraced him, followed by her husband and two boys.

"Aunt Hoshiko..." Takuya mumbled, normally he would avoid her hugs, but now, he really needed one.

"Excuse me, but you are...?" The officer asked, despite knowing they were related, it was always good to make sure.

The husband extended his hand. "I'm Taiki Himi, and my wife is Hoshiko." He indicated to the two boys beside him. "These are my sons, Yutaka and Tomoki." Mr. Himi glanced at the blood covered sheets in the ambulance, a slight fear penetrated his being. "Officer, what's happened to my brother and his wife?"

The police officer threw his gaze at Takuya. "I'm afraid the only one who can answer that is your nephew, but he's quite shaken up." Returned his eyes to the other man, he sighed. "As for how they died... Mr. Kanbara's throat was slashed, and Mrs. Kanbara had multiple stabs wound, apparently dying from blood loss as none of them punctured her vital organs. From what we gathered, a while before her death she was also sexually assaulted..." As Mr. and Mrs. Himi discussed more important matters concerning Takuya, Yutaka and Tomoki went to comfort their cousin.

"Taki-niisan?" Three-year-old Tomoki asked, trying to catch the older boy's gaze. Takuya looked at him, and ruffled his hair.

"I'm alright buddy, don't you worry about a thing." he smiled to reassure his baby cousin, but Yutaka knew it was forced.

Mr. Himi clamped his hand down on Takuya's back. "Come on, you're gonna be living with us, is that alright?" Takuya nodded, and Tommy clamped his hands in joy. As the police loaded up their cars and the ambulance drove away, Takuya turned to stare at his house. One incident had just changed his entire life, and the two who were the cause of it all were still out there. In his heart, Takuya knew this wasn't the last time he would face a tragedy like this, nor would it be the last time he would encounter those men. When he did, and this was certain, he'd be prepared, and they wouldn't get away.

"Takuya, lets go." Mrs. Himi called, strapping Tomoki into the child-seat. Takuya sat on Tomoki's left, Yutaka on the right, and as the car drove away, he looked out the window. His hazel eyes widening as, what appeared to be, a silhouette climbing over a fence. Mrs. Himi saw the panicked expression on her nephew's face. "Takuya, what's wrong?"

"Nothing..." he responded. Mentally, he added, _Not yet, anyway._

* * *

_Present Day_

"..."

"..."

"... Hello?" Takuya spoke into the telephone, a soccer-ball in his grasp.

_"Takuya, Kouichi and I've been waiting for an hour. Is everything okay?"_His best friend, Kouji Minamoto asked.

"Yeah, last minute change, though. Aunt Hoshiko was called into her office, so I'll have to bring Tommy with me. We were settling that so I had to wait a while." he answered.

_"Oh, okay. At least this way Kouichi can't sit out..." _The boy on the other end snickered, a groan was heard in the background. _"So we can expect you in ten minutes?"_

"Yup, we're on our way out right now. See you in a bit." With that, Takuya hung up the phone. "Come on, Tommy!" He headed out the front door, and the little ten year old raced after him. First he had to go back, lock the door, then close it.

"Takuya-niisan! Wait up!"

Takuya Kanbara was now 13-years-old. He was more mature than most people he knew, but he didn't know many people, the incident that took place so many years back had made him anti-social. He continued to play his favorite sport, soccer, and found it easy to take his anger out by playing a game or two. He'd also learned how to fight, due to getting in quite a few during his first year in middle school.

Yutaka had turned 15 a few months ago and would always be there for his cousins when they needed him, especially since Mr. and Mrs. Himi were usually never at home because of their strict superiors. Like Takuya, he also had a record for fighting, but had never lost one yet. Along with his family, he's tried to help Takuya make more friends, and to move on since the tragic event, with little luck.

Tomoki was 10 years of age, and spent most of his time outdoors, as long as someone was watching him. His best friend was Iori Hida, who took kendo lessons from his Grandfather. Tomoki was usually hanging around Takuya and his friends, though they didn't mind as Tomoki was actually an interesting kid. Most people he knows call him Tommy.

Upon reaching the park, two identical looking teenagers spotted them. "Hey, its about time!" Kouji Minamoto, age 13, Takuya's best friend since the second grade. He'd learned about the death of Takuya's parents three years after the two met. Kouji is usually never seen without his trusty bandanna, is awfully close to his twin brother Kouichi.

Kouichi Minamoto, age 13, older than Kouji by ten minutes. He's also one of Takuya's closest friends and knows of the incident. He often wears a blue baseball cap and, in most situations, more mature than his twin. Kouichi is the voice of reason among the group, mostly to calm down his brother and Takuya when their anger sparks.

"Sorry, but you know how it is..." Takuya trailed off, and Kouji knew what the other male was beginning to think.

"Well, you're here now so lets get started." Kouji took the soccer-ball from Takuya and walked to the opening of the park. "Kouichi and I against you and Tommy."

As the other three caught up with him, Kouichi rubbed his fist into Tomoki's skull, chuckling. "Now look what you've got me into, there's no way for me to get out of this."

Kouji rolled his eyes, slapping his hand through the air. "Stop complaining, you should move around every once and awhile." Kouichi's hand resembled a face with its mouth flapping. "Ehehehe. You're so hilarious. Here you start." He gave the ball a shove as he passed it to his elder brother.

"Oof!" Kouichi groaned as it rammed into his chest. "... Whatever happened to respecting your elders?" No one answered as they took their positions, the older twin sighed, taking his own. As the game began, the four boys were unaware of the moving truck that drove by the park.

* * *

**The prologue is now complete, and I hope I did a good job on this chapter. A quick note before Isay goodbye is for those who have read my other Digimon fic called "Vengeful Darkness". I know I'm _way_ passed the date I promised, but at that time I was taking major tests and other school-related assignments. It will get updated a few times over the summer, I can guarantee that, and I'll make sure the chapters are good. Don't expect this one to be updated until I've done so to my other stories at least once. Sayonara! **


	2. Chapter 1

**After a month to almost-two-months, I finally update again. I apologize if this didn't come out very well, in fact I wanted to make it longer, but where I ended it seemed like the right place to stop. Actually, I thought it would take me a lot longer to update, mostly due to Writer's Block.. Before I rant about how bad a case I had of that, I'll get to the review replies. **

**Sightbent: **I meant for it to be dark, a mix between horror, suspense, tragedy, and friendship. Possibly a bit of romance... (Spoilers, probably, but not much.) Although, I hope it wasn't too dark, if it was I'll tune it down a bit. Drama? Hmm, maybe, I haven't given much thought if there will be that... Oh! Actually, there might be! (Wow, complete A.D.D moment. I don't mean to be offensive though, its just that I tend to change that topic suddenly.) I hadn't wanted to rewrite it either, I went over it to see if I could keep it going, but it didn't work. Yes, there is a reason as to why Takuya and Kouji didn't get along before, I would tell you, but it would spoil half of the plot, so I won't. Besides, you'll probably figure it out as the story goes on. This time around though, it made sense to me that Takuya and Kouji would become closer friends _because_ of what happened, instead of enemies.

**Dracula-key: **No way, I wouldn't quit writing fanfics, especially if I didn't finish my stories. I've just been having Writer's Block, a bad case of it, at that. Thank you, I hope that my writing style improves while I continue the story.

**61wisampa: **Of course not! The Takuyari (Good name by the way, wonder who came up with it.) couple needs to increase, not the other way around! (I'm still surprised that no one wrote a story about them before I did. *shrugs* People are starting to like that couple now, so that's a plus!) I've just been stuck on what to do. (As you can see, my six weeks update plan didn't work. Oh well, I was just testing it, after all.) However, I do hope to get it done, somewhere between this week (Starting Sunday) and next week.

**_Important Notice: _Some people have been asking me if I've discontinued my Takuyari fic "Vengeful Darkness". I have _not _stopped writing it, I'm just not sure how to continue it. As I told 61wisampa above, I hope to have a chapter up by this week (Starting on Sunday) and next week. But, I'm sure some of you know by now, that I don't always update when I assume to. Although, seeing how people want to see the next chapter, I'll be focusing on that (Not entirely, because I'm nearly done with another fic's update) and it will be the next fic to be updated. (Unless I get inspired for that other fic, but other than that...) **

**There! I hope (Repeating word, ne? I'll work on that.) that I've cleared up any confusion. If not, then I'll do my best to answer any questions in either a PM or the next chapter's review reply. I... have little faith (Better, have to find another word, though.) the readers will enjoy this chapter. **

**_

* * *

_**

**_Chapter 1: Re-adjusting_**

Hikari "Kari" Yagami exhaled, in a few minutes she would have to leave for her new school, and she was more than a little nervous. Her room was still a bit bare, except for her bed, dresser and the items that were already unpacked. That would be finished today, hopefully. Things hadn't been going well in their hometown, Odaiba, so their mother thought it was best to live somewhere else. "Still..." she mumbled, rested her chin on her knees. ".. did we really have to move?"

"You know we had no other choice." The voice of her older brother reached her ears. Hikari looked up to see Taichi "Tai" Yagami leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. Taichi let out a small laugh. "Think, it could be worse, we might have had to change our names and appearances." Seeing his attempt to lift the mood hadn't succeeded, he walked over and sat next to her. "I know it'll be hard at first, but I saw a bunch of kids our age around here, I'm sure we'll make new friends. No doubt about that. Remember, once this whole thing settles down we'll be able to contact our old friends too. They could come over during the summer, and we can do the same. Do you understand, Kari?"

"No, but why not make the best out of any situation, right?" Hikari raised her head, a smile making its way to her face.

"There you go!" Taichi said, getting to his feet. Hikari did the same. "Just watch, when mom gets a steady job and we're more familiar with this town, it'll get better. Now, come on. I'm gonna walk you to school." The Yagami siblings reached the door, and began to put on their shoes. Taichi could still see an expression of distress on his sister's face. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make at least one friend at school, and if not today, maybe tomorrow."

Hikari nodded, opening the front door. "Well, I guess I'll have to wait and see."

* * *

Having already walked Tomoki to the Elementary School, Takuya was now heading to his own. School wasn't a problem for the young teenager, never had. He got decent grades, nothing to get him in advance classes, then again he never really tried, but he didn't fail either. The only thing that bothered him was the countless murmurs and whispers behind his back, mostly out of fear for the amount of kids he would injure during a fight, but he couldn't care any less. He and friends who liked him for him, and Takuya was perfectly fine with that.

"Takuya!" Kouji called out, running up to his friend's side. He turned behind him and shouted, "We're not gonna wait for you, so you better hurry up!" The goggle-head knew it was Kouichi, the trio of friends didn't really hang around anyone else. Though, there were a few people that tagged along and were part of their little gang. "So, chances are there will be a new student today."

"How do you know that, and what makes you figure that I care?" Takuya responded, raising an eyebrow. The action was dedicated to both Kouji's misguided thought, and Kouichi's sudden appearance. The older twin was breathing a bit heavily, Takuya's guess was that Kouji made him run quite a distance. Neither of them would tire out very easily.

"I was walking downtown yesterday after the soccer game, and saw a moving truck parked at the house." Kouji clarified. "You know, the one that was cleared out about a month ago?"

Takuya sighed. "I don't see why you bother,_ chances are_, whoever it is won't pay any mind to us. Now, why did you find that news so important?"

Kouji shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. "Not much has happened here for a while, that was the only interesting things so I figured, why not?"

"Eh, its actually a good thing that its quiet and peaceful, at the moment." His hazel eyes became clouded, the twins shared the same, uneasy look. "But, it _is _pretty boring, we should find something to do sometime, you know?" Takuya grinned to reassure his friends, but they were no longer fooled. Their goggle-headed friend had always been troubled by the silhouette he'd seen that fateful day. And the two men had never been caught, to this day.

* * *

Hikari paced nervously around the door, it lead to her first class of the day. Her science teacher had asked her to wait outside, once everyone came in, he'd introduce her. She was taking deep breaths every minute that passed, trying to calm her nerves. _Relax Hikari, you always get anxious when something big is about to happen. In the end it usually turns out fine, nothing to worry about. _The moment of internal peace was instantly shattered as the teacher called for her. Hikari swallowed past the thickness in her throat, before she slowly turned the door handle. As she expected, all eyes were on her. "Uh... Well... I... Um, hi?" Some of the students snickered at her stuttering, causing her to turn a light shade of red.

"Miss, would you care to introduce yourself?" The science teacher, Mr. Nakamori, encouraged her to continue.

She raised her head, taking a quick glance at the student-filled room. Half of them watched with little interest, others didn't bother and looked at, or occupied themselves with, something else. A few boys stared at her with grins, until the girls fired glares in their direction, that made them turn away. "M-my name's Hikari. Hikari Yagami."

Mr. Nakamori smile reassuringly, and viewed the room for an open seat. "Okay, Miss Yagami. Why don't you take a seat behind... Miss Makino?" Knowing the drill, a red-haired girl, who kept her hair in a spiked ponytail, groaned and lazily threw her hand in the air. "Hmm, how optimistic of you Ruki." Hikari kept her head down as she sat behind the girl, apparently Ruki Makino. She casted a side-ways glance to her left, as to her left was the window, and spotted a blond-haired girl with emerald-color eyes. She appeared bored, but paid attention.

_Pay attention! _Hikari scolded herself, returning her attention to the front. _The only way to make things worse is to get in trouble on the first day. _Mr. Nakamori picked up a marker, and began to draw the diagram of an atom. Showing and naming the nucleus, protons, neutrons, and electrons, along with chemical bonding, and how it changes the atom that combined. When it came down to the time of only twenty minutes left of class, Mr. Nakamori sighed, facing his class.

"Apparently, I've forgotten to make enough copies of the homework. I know its pointless to say, but while I step out for a few minutes please stay in your seats and remain quiet." He was right, the moment the door closed, everyone started chatting with friends. Even walking to the other side of the room to talk there. Hikari looked down, knowing no one was going to talk to her. How she was mistaken.

"So.." Hikari looked back up, seeing Ruki turned around, her arms crossed over the head of her chair. "... You're Hikari, right?" The crimson-eyed girl nodded. "As you know, the name's Ruki, but Rika's alright too." The two shook each other's hands. "Did you move here, haven't seen you around before."

"Y-yes, my family and I just arrived yesterday."

Ruki nodded, seemingly thinking of a way to keep the conversation going. "Say, can I see your schedule. I'd like to see what classes to expect you in." Kari opened her binder, in the folder-pocket on the side was a white piece of paper. She pulled it out and handed it to Ruki. The other girl's purple eyes scanned over the list, before she returned it. "Alright, we have three other classes together, plus lunch."

"Oh." Hikari mumbled, for two of her classes, she wouldn't have anyone to talk to.

Ruki saw this and smirked. "Don't worry kid, you'll eventually have a group of loyal, somewhat insane, friends."

"What do you mean _kid_?" Taichi would always call her that when she didn't understand something he did.

Her smirk grew. "I called you kid, because you have a _lot _to learn about this place." Hikari's eyes widened, she did _not_ like where this is going. Not in the slightest.

* * *

From across the room, Takuya could see one of his only friends, Ruki, talking to the new girl. If he recalled correctly her name Hikari... something, he didn't pay much attention to her introduction. He _did_, however, notice her stuttering problem, the sure sign of anxiety. Takuya didn't know anything about this girl, but he knew there was more to her than meets the eye. _Guess we'll be introduced at lunch, if Ruki intends to bring her along, anyway. _

* * *

Speaking of lunch, that was the next time Hikari had seen Ruki. After getting her lunch tray, (Filled with who-knows-what...) she began to search around for Ruki's table.

"Yo! Hikari!" The sound of Ruki's loud voice made her jump. Hikari looked over to see Ruki waving to her, surprisingly it didn't attract any attention, it must have been normal around here. When Ruki realized she'd yet to move, she increased the pitch of her voice. (If it was possible.) "Are you deaf woman! I said get over here!" Hikari finally walked over, as she sat down a boy who wore goggles on his head groaned.

"Ruki, do you _have _to yell every-time you need to get someone's attention?" Takuya asked.

"Hey, _I'm_ not loud. _You're _just quiet." Ruki countered, she jerked her thumb at him as she turned to Hikari. "That downer over there is Takuya, the two clones are Kouichi and Kouji. Guys, this is.."

"Hikari, we know." Takuya interrupted. "We do have the same first class, remember? Plus, I doubt anyone in this room didn't hear her name when you screamed for her."

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see you."

"Takuya sits on the other side of the class, I sit in the back, and Mr. Goody-Goody sit in the front." Kouji cleared up, receiving a light punch from his brother. "We've seen you in the other two classes. Getting off that topic, are you the one who moved in the house downtown?" Hikari nodded, though an expression of confusion formed on her face. "I saw the moving truck, where are you from?"

"Odaiba."

Ruki let out a low whistle. "That's about a six hour drive! Why on earth would you wanna move so far?" Hikari shrugged, staring at her hands, she obviously couldn't tell them the exact reason, but she wasn't one to lie. Unknown to her, Takuya's eyebrows furrowed, the new girl was showing more signs of keeping a secret. His friends might not be able to find them, though in his case, he'd kept secrets for most of his life and showed similiar gestures before learning how to master the "poker face". He sighed, it wasn't any business of his, there was no point in figuring anything out.

"So, how long have you guys known each other?" Hikari asked, hoping to prevent a silence that would unnerve her.

"Takuya and the clones have known each other since the second grade." Ruki explained. "I met them the following year..."

"... and have been regretting it ever since." Takuya whispered to Kouji, who laughed and nodded in agreement. Ruki stuck her tongue out at them.

Kouichi rolled his eyes. "They're idiots, so Hikari tell us about yourself."

"Well, I have an older brother named Taichi, me and him live with our mother.." The four friends shared a quick glance, returning their attention to Hikari before she could notice. "I'm not much of an outdoors person, I'm mean, I'd rather spend my time tinkering with my camera instead of playing sports."

"I thought so." Ruki nodded to herself. "The reason for that is because you're too timid, we all guessed it when you stuttered during your introduction. Don't worry kid, we'll knock that outta you." Hikari nodded, still a bit in the dark about the intentions of these... unusual characters. She jumped at the bell as it rang, signalling that lunch was over.

Ruki stood up. "Alright, Kouichi, Hikari, lets get a move on. We'll catch you two idiots after class." She waved to Takuya and Kouji as she left, Kouichi and Hikari following behind her.

"Why do we hang out with her again?" Kouji asked, walking with Takuya to their Algebra class.

The goggle-head shrugged. "I think that besides, Kouichi, she's the closest to sane person of our group."

"True." Kouji agreed. "Although, Hikari's a nice girl, she hangs around Ruki any longer I'll question it, but still..." Takuya gave another shrug, to him, Hikari was one of those people who didn't understand how rough the world actually was. "What do you think of her?"

"Does it matter? I don't know her, we haven't talked at all." Takuya shook his head. "If it turns out she's not a bad kid, I'll tolerate her hanging around with us." Kouji sighed, another attempt resulting in failure.

* * *

"Hikari, how was your first day?" Taichi asked, shoving another forkful of meat into his mouth.

Hikari pushed her food around with her own fork, so far Ruki, Kouji, and Kouichi had been nice to her. However, Takuya never even acknowledged her whenever she was with them. Sure she'd only known them for a day, but she felt that things would be the same, even after she spent more time with them. Hikari looked up when Taichi spoke. "It was alright."

"Any friends yet?"

"Mhmm, they're names are Ruki, Kouji, Kouichi, and Takuya." She couldn't really call Takuya a friend, an acquaintance more so, but she was willing to get to know him better.

Taichi arched an eyebrow. "Takuya? I've heard that name. Yeah, my new friend Yutaka saw he had a little brother named Takuya. See? I told you things would get better."

_I guess... _Hikari still had doubts, the group of four had been friendly, but she knew there was a deep secret that connected them. That's why they got along so well. _Does that mean, I was destined to meet them? Will my secret connect me to their group?_

* * *

The next morning Hikari walked to school by herself, Taichi had left early to meet up with his friend Yutaka, so he wasn't able to walk her like the previous day. Not that it mattered, she didn't like to rely on Taichi, or anyone in general, to have to hold her hand whenever she felt nervous. She had before, but the incident that caused them to fled their hometown had changed her. No more would she depend on others to help her during a tough situation, those days were over. As Hikari walked on, she found herself frequently casting a glance over her shoulder_. Old habits die hard, Hikari_. She sighed, and looked forward once again, unaware of the person stepping out of the shadows, and now creeping up behind her._ You'll get rid of it soon enough._

"Hikari!" No sooner than she'd finish her thought, did a pair of hands slam down on her shoulders, along with the shouting of her let out an ear-piercing wail and practically leaped forward. She turned back to see who her attacker was, and saw Ruki with her pinky in her ear. "Well, I'm officially deaf. Thanks Hikari, thanks a -freaking- lot."

Hikari looked at her apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Ruki-san. Next time don't sneak up on me."

"Yeah, I'll remember that." Ruki jogged until she was at her new friend's side, the two continued to walk. "You sure can scream, and you seemed very cautious. Any reasons as to why?"

"What? Oh, no. No reason at all."

Ruki arched an eyebrow. "Then why'd you keep looking over your shoulder?"

Hikari sighed. "Can you drop it, please? I don't feel comfortable talking about it." She knew it was bad to mention anything related to... _that_. But Ruki came off as the type of person who respected other people's privacy, at least, if they showed that they really didn't want it to be the main subject.

Ruki's expression softened. "Sure." Hikari nodded and increased her pace, the spiky, red-haired girl only stared at her_. She is definitely hiding some sort of secret. Whatever it is, it really affected her. I just hope we can do something to change that_.

* * *

**Yosh! Another chapter come and gone. As I stated before, this chapter wasn't nearly as long as I'd... wanted (Ha!) to make it, but it seemed like a good place to end it where I did. For those who enjoyed the chapter, that means I did an alright job. For those who think it could've been better, I completely agree with you. And for those of you who've been waiting for "Vengeful Darkness" to be updated. I'm going straight to working on it. Just hang on for a bit longer. Ja ne!**


	3. Chapter 2

_Quite a shocker, ne? And here you all thought that I'd disappeared off the face of the earth. Nope! I'm still here, and have blessed you all with this... incredibly long overdue update. I apologize, I had no idea it would take this long. Most of the delay would be because of Writer's Block, but as of late... *sighs* I've been through several tornadoes of drama, and have been in a very negative mood. However, I pushed all of that aside and swore to myself to update this for you all before school came back around._

_I would like to give my thanks to Sightbent; who helped me get this chapter out. You were awesome, but hey, what else did I expect from a great writer like you, huh?_

_Heh, once again, I apologize for the horrific lateness of the chapter. More so because it's so short, and that bad quality. But hey, you guys have waited over a year for this chapter, so I'll get to the review replies and allow you to read._

_61wisampa: _Heh, you're welcome. And of course, there's no way I would discontinue a story. Unless there is no way in heck I'd be able to continue it. Still, nice name. After all, any character that Hikari is oaired with, that starts with a T, ends up with the name Takari. Unless you put her name first, in this case it'd be Kakuya... Might just be me but that name sounds legit. Hah! Sorry, I'm rambling.

_Sightbent: _Indeed it is, but it fits nonetheless. Yeah, you along with most of the other readers. You gotta admit, Ruki is the perfect charater for a dark-themed story, no? Also, I must thank you again for your help. Not only did you give me ideas for this chapter, but for others in the future as well.

_dracula-key: _Thanks, and yeah, that's the overall reaction. But I agree, she is a good fit for the plot.

_TakuyaxKari: _Thanks bro, and no doubt! Unfortunately, we haven't seen an update outta you for a while. Come on, I've left my readers in suspense long enough, I think yours have been as well!

_Kaydreams: Y_es there is, I love adding mystery, it just gives it that edge, you know? And there will be plenty more in the future.

_One more thing before I allow you to read. (I know what you're thinking: "Damnit, shut up already!") It seems everyone was a bit surprised with Ruki's appearance. I added her in because with Takuya, the twins, and Tomoki already at use. That only left Junpei and Izumi, not enough characters. So I put Ruki in, and it's a perfect role for her. The other Tamers will be in as well, they'll show up soon. _

* * *

Takuya examined the now bandaged area on his forearm, sighing as he thought about the reactions of Kouji and Ruki. Kouichi would be concerned, but unlike the other two he understood that sometimes it could not be helped. He slipped on a long-sleeved shirt, covering the bandages. It didn't matter to him whether people saw, but Yutaka insisted he not show what a delinquent he was. Takuya didn't need people murmuring even more things about him, despite some of them being true.

Tomoki expressed his concerns as Takuya walked him to school. "We're just worried about you, Taki-niisan."

"I know." Takuya patted his cousin's head. "Believe me, I appreciate it, but you guys have to trust me. Some things can't be helped. Don't worry, nothing bad's going to happen to me."

The small boy was reluctant to drop the subject. "You promise?"

"I promise."

Nothing more was said between the two boys. Takuya dropped Tomoki off and walked toward his own school. He sighed, contemplating how dull his life had become. He was no adrenaline junkie, but as of late his days passed by rather automatically. Takuya raised his left arm, the wounded one, to scratch an inch on his opposite shoulder. As he rounded the corner he slammed into something. The abrupt pressure to his wound made his whole arm throb, he winced and glared at whatever he collided with.

"The hell's your-" Takuya stopped himself when his brain registered who he was looking at. _It's that girl from yesterday._

Hikari rubbed her elbow that had hit the sidewalk when she fell, it was minorly scraped but still ached. It then occured to her that she bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where-" she looked up and stopped mid-sentence. Takuya looked down at her with his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "Takuya."

"Yes?" he reponded monotonously.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Hikari, you alright?" Ruki asked, extending her arm to help her friend. Takuya raised an eyebrow as he realized he hadn't noticed the tom-boy. After helping Hikari back to her feet, Ruki identified who was standing around. "Hey Takuya." He nodded back his greeting. She proceeded to hit him in the back of his head. "You idiot! You don't even have the decency to help her up, much less apologize?"

Takuya glared at her, unfazed by the attack. "I shouldn't have to." With that said he brushed past the two and continued on his way.

Ruki sighed, giving Hikari a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, he's always like that. He'll loosen up eventually."

He shoved his hands into his pockets, attempting to ignore the chattering of the two girls behind him. Takuya felt slight annoyance by Ruki's accusation. _As if she knew what I intended to do. I didn't even know it was that girl, all I was focused on was my_ _arm!_ He gave up on letting it bother him, knowing he's have much more to deal with in only a short amount of time.

The trio arrived at their school and went straight to their science class, meeting up with the twins. As Ruki struck up a conversation with them, Takuya sat back in his chair, not in the mood to talk to anyone. Then again, when was he ever? He glanced over and caught sight of the girl he bumped into earlier. Takuya noticed she wasn't speaking either. Hikari kept her head down, staring at her lap. After a few moments she peaked up and noticed his glance, she instantly jerked her head in another direction.

Takuya furrowed his eyebrows, feeling irritated. _Why did she do that? I didn't even say anything to her. _He crossed his arms. For some reason or other this girl's attitude caught his attention. Takuya rolled his eyes. _Well, she's Ruki's friend and so she'll be hanging around us. I better get used to her. Doesn't mean I have to be friendly with her, though._

"Takuya." The reprimanding tone in Kouji's voice told Takuya what they were concerned about. He turned to his friend, who was glaring. "What happened?" They noticed that he was wearing a long-sleeve shirt; they knew what that meant.

"I don't believe now is a good time to discuss it." he replied calmly. Due to Hikari's presence, he refused to talk or even hint about it. His friends cast him a knowing look, but decided to drop it. For now.

Hikari wondered what they were talking about, nothing seemed wrong. Of course, it would be something only they would know about, and they wouldn't talk about it because she was there. She sighed, and went to take her seat once Mr. Nakamori arrived.

* * *

He sat back with a calm expression as his friends lashed out at him.

Ruki was scolding him the most, as her temper was second highest. His was the first. "Takuya, for god's sake what you're doing isn't healthy! If you're going to fight at least have some reason for it, instead of just doing it for your enjoyment!"

Kouji was upset as well, but wasn't making as big a deal as Ruki. "We know why you do this, Takuya. But you could get seriously hurt, how do you think your family feels whenever you some home in a bloody mess?"

Kouichi didn't say anything, he let his brother and friend do all the talking. He knew that if he wanted Takuya to actually consider his words, he's have to talk to him one on one, and in a calmer matter.

"Look, you guys, I don't start these fights, you know that." Takuya clarified. "But I don't back down from them, either."

Releasing a sigh, Ruki calmed down slightly. "We know that, but it doesn't make us worry any less."

Takuya rose, not wanting to continue the pointless conversation. "I didn't ask you guys to worry. This is my problem, which you have no involvement, and I will handle it on my own. That is final." Without another word, he walked away from his friends and headed home.

Kouji glared in his retreating direction. "I don't understand how he thinks he can get himself in trouble and expect us to sit back."

The elder twin finally decided to say something. "That's just how Takuya is. Remember, he's still trying to cope with what happened to his parents. Let's just be glad he's not doing anything more extreme. He could be cutting himself for god's sake!" The other two sighed, knowing Kouichi had a valid point. Kouichi started off in the same direction Takuya went. "I'll talk to him, he might at least give what I have to say some thought." As he left, Kouji and Ruki started thinking about Takuya. He hadn't always done this, when did it start? They would find out.

* * *

"Takuya!"

He turned back to see Kouichi catching up to him. He sighed, and spoke before giving him a chance. "I know what you're going to say, Kouichi. I mean, honestly, you guys act like I've never got into a fight before. It's_ one_ cut, I've gone through worse!" The irritance that had risen from his friend's berating was clear in his voice.

Kouichi held his hands up. "That's just it, Takuya. One day, something even worse _will_ happen to you. How do you think Tomoki feels, or Yutaka?" Kouichi hesitated, knowing his next words would have a great effect. Though it could be either positively or negatively. "How do you think your parents would feel, knowing their son went around getting himself injured like this?

Takuya's face was emotionless, but the dangerous look in his eyes showed how truly angry he was. "Kouichi.. I will say this once: _Never_ bring my parents' opinion into my personal matters. Understand?" He clenched his fist, restraining himself from striking out at Kouichi. Takuya could never control himself when his parents were brought up, even if it was his family or friends mentioning it.

"I wasn't trying to upset you, Tak-"

"Shut up!" Takuya growled, his anger breaking out. He grabbed Kouichi's collar. "Don't you dare mention my parents when it was _your father_ who killed them you bastard!" Takuya raised his fist, but not wanting to harm his friend, lowered his arm. He released Kouichi, turned on his heel, and ran off.

Kouichi watched him run, Takuya's words had struck him hard. He started thinking about how he, Kouji, Ruki, and Takuya had become friends in the first place. Especially when it was discovered that the Minamoto brothers' father, Kousei Minamoto, had been the one to murder Takuya's parents. He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. _Takuya's bound to do something reckless, certainly now that he's so angry._ Kouichi pulled out his cellphone, quickly dialing a number. After a few rings, the person on the other line picked up.

"Yutaka, it's Kouichi."

* * *

"Yeah, I understand. I'll find him, thanks for letting me know." Yutaka hung up his cellphone, sighing. Kouichi called and told him that Takuya was off somewhere, and his temper was loose. That was never a good combination. He walked downstairs and started putting his shoes on.

"I'm leaving for a little while." He called to his parents.

"Something to do with Takuya?" Tomoki asked from the top of the stairs.

His brother blinked. "Were you eavesdropping?"

Tomoki shyly glanced at his socks. "Makes sure he's alright, Nii-san."

"I will." Yutaka swore before exiting out the door, leaving his brother to wait in anxiety. He broke off into a jog. _If I know Takuya, he would've either gone somewhere he can be alone, or do something to take out his aggression. Since he was in a fight last night, it'll most likely be the former. _His running slowed until he was walking. _There are so many places Takuya would go. Damnit! _

It frustrated Yutaka whenever Takuya became too stubborn, or withdrew into one of his moods. While he knew it was something that couldn't be helped, it didn't make his attempts any easier with how his cousin chose to handle his problems. He sighed, scratching at his head. "Takuya will know I'm looking for him, so he'll wander, that way I can't find him in a certain location." A dry laugh escaped him. "For all I know, he could be hiding in the backyard." Yutaka placed his hands behind his head, released another sigh, then casually walked on.

* * *

The boy in question was indeed wandering, unknowingly in the same manner as his cousin. Arms placed behind his head, casual strides. Takuya hadn't calmed down, but he did withdraw his anger. With it bottled back up, he felt slight remorse for his behavior at Kouichi, and the fact he had almost _struck_ him... he felt slightly sick. The one thing he_ never_ wanted to do was bring harm to his family and friends.

Takuya sighed. _Kouichi will forgive me, it's just how he is. Still, I shouldn't have mentioned his father. He and Kouji feel guilty, even though it's not _their_ fault._ His arms fell to his sides. The sun was nearly gone, darkness was rolling in. Takuya didn't want to return home, surely Yutaka was aware of what he did, he didn't need his cousin adding to the guilt he carried.

He stopped, not due to fatigue, but just because he felt like it. He glanced around, only then realizing where he was: the same area he fought in the previous night. His lips twitched upwards in a light smirk. _Won't be all bad if I do happen to get into a fight._

Fighting had been a great ventilation, before he used to be satisfied with a brutal game of soccer, but not anymore. He never liked fighting, truth be told, but he was no pacifist. He wouldn't go looking for fights, nor did he instigate anyone in order to cause a fight. Whenever one happened, however, he wouldn't back down. Also, he _did_ feel slightly better after one.

He was about to continue his stroll until he heard a scream; high-pitched, most likely female. His curiosity gaining control over him, Takuya starting walking toward where he heard the scream. He heard the murmuring of voices as he approached a turn, cautiously peaking over, he saw two men standing over something. He felt slight twinge in his mind, this scene looked familiar. Takuya gritted his teeth, it reminded him of when he looked past the bathroom door; witnessing his parents' murder.

Without a second thought he approached them. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" His tone was low and dangerous. The two men whirled around, startled, but when they realized it was a young boy, they smirked.

"Get outta here kid," one said, shooing him away with a motion of his hand. "Once we're done, there'll be nothing left for you."

Takuya clenched his fist. "You won't be getting anything, you worth scum."

The one who had spoken before came at him. He swung a punch that Takuya dodged with ease, unfortunately, he ducked and in retaliation the man brought his knee up; striking Takuya in the jaw. Takuya stumbled back, falling to the ground. The man caught his foot and dragged him closer, he prepared to slam his foot into Takuya's stomach. Before he made contact, his ankle was caught as Takuya twisted it. A sickening pop was heard and the man collapsed next to him. Takuya quickly brought his heel down on his head, knocking him unconscious.

Since his focus was drawn to only one thug, it allowed the other to grab him by the throat, shoving him into the wall. Takuya glared at him, that earned him another thrust into the stone wall. He felt something trickle down his temple. _Yutaka won't be happy._ Takuya brought his knee up, then thrust his leg forward, kicking the older man in the stomach. The grip on his throat loosened enough for him to get free. His elbow hit the man's head, leaving him disoriented. Takuya took advantage of this by aiming another kick to his head, sending him to the ground. Takuya quickly jabbed his pressure point between the neck and the shoulders, knocking him unconscious as well.

He stood over the two, his breathing heavy. Before he was allowed to calm down, he felt someone grab his shoulder. He turned his body, his fist backhanding the person's face, letting them sprawl onto the ground. With his head fully turned, it allowed him to see who snuck up on him. He didn't remember their being a third thug. As he saw their face, he froze.

* * *

_There it is, again, I apologize for the lateness and ther bad quality. But now I know how to get this story rolling, I know exactly where to go from here. As for my other story, "Vengeful Darkness" I've reached a snag, but with enough thinking I'll get over it. But I'm really eager to continue this, so this one will most likely get updated first._


	4. Chapter 3

_Happy Holidays! As a gift I give you another chapter. Actually I didn't intend to finish this in time for the holidays, it just so happens that I finished it on this day. Heh, gotta love coincidences. I'm aware I left you all on a cliffhanger last chapter, and now you get to see the (not really) shocking conclusion. Review replies:_

_JapanRules555:_ I'm glad, the fans for this pairing have risen and it's quite a surprise. Of course I'll continue, but I must warn you: sometimes I take forever to update. XP

_Kaydreams: _Yes, he was in complete hero mode until that mistake. Eh, it should be sort of obvious, given how this story is being written. Some things will be obvious, but others will be quite difficult to figure out.

_dracula-key: _Surprising right? Nope I is still alive. Hmm, your thoughts are slightly accurate, but you'll find out by how much later.

_Sightbent: _Aww, and here I thought I'd caught you completely off guard. Haha. You really helped a lot, so again, thanks! I mean, for one thing it only took me a _month_ to update the _same story_. Tis a miracle, no? Ah, thanks for the compliment. I was worried about how it would come out. Hey now, this is Takuya we're talking about. Not high spirited Takuya, but dark and cold Takuya. It's not quite his nature to apologize, properly that is.

_There we go. Any notes regarding other fics of mine are at the end of the chapter. I've nothing left to say except: Have a great holiday(s), if you celebrate that is. _

* * *

He leaned back in his computer chair, fiddling with the device in his hands. Only moments ago had it alerted him of a voice message, yet he couldn't bring himself to listen to it. One reason being that the phone wasn't his, and second being that he knew what it could contain, but he had no answer for it. With a sigh, he glanced over at his bed, at the moment there was someone in it, someone who shouldn't be there. He rubbed his head, careful to avoid the gash on his temple that was covered by a large patch. The whole situation was giving him a migraine, and the wound didn't help.

Yutaka had been exasperated when Takuya returned home, not only because he was injured, but because he wasn't alone.

"What the hell, Takuya? How could you have been so careless?" Yutaka had yelled at him.

"It was an accident, you think I would've done _this_ on purpose?" He gestured to the unconscious person laid out on their couch.

Yutaka crossed his arms. "Last I heard you were pretty angry, so yes I think it's possible."

Tomoki had been shocked to find out what happened, he closed himself off in his room. Takuya hadn't seen him since. After taking care of his wounds, as well as the other person's, Yutaka helped move the person into Takuya's room. It would be terrible if their parents were to come home and find an unconscious stranger in the house. As Takuya sat waiting for them to awaken, he heard a ringing, and discovered the cellular device. The caller ID had read "Onii-chan", so he refused to answer it. A minute later, it beeped and said in the automatic tone: "One new voicemail."

Takuya sat there contemplating his decision. He knew it was wrong, but also knew that this "Onii-chan" must have been worried about his younger sibling. With the press of a button, he put the phone to his ear.

"One new voicemail: _Hikari! Where are you? You should've been home hours ago. I told Okaasan you were visiting friends so she wouldn't worry, but she'll get suspicious soon. Please be alright, call me back as soon as you can._"

He sighed, scrolling through the contacts list, which was fairly short, until he found the correct name. Pressing the green button, he returned the phone to its previous position by his ear.

After three rings a male voice answered, "_Hikari? Where are you_?" Takuya paused, thinking what to say. He must've taken too long, for the male asked, "_Hikari_?"

Another sigh. "She's safe." It wasn't the best thing he could've said, but it would tell the older brother that his sister was okay.

"_Who the hell is this_?" He asked angrily, not too pleased to hear an unfamiliar _male_ voice respond from his sister's phone. "_What did you do to my sister_?"

"Did you not hear me? I said she's fine, she'll be home as soon as she can." The brother's response was lost as Takuya hung up. He only imagined how worried, and angry, he made the other boy, but only for a second before tossing it out of mind. Placing the phone on his desk he stood up, giving a glance to the unconscious female, before walking out of his room.

Takuya looked to the room two doors down, separating them by the bathroom. He sighed, absent-mindedly wondering how long it'd be until he felt lightheaded, and stepped over to the door. He lightly knock with one knuckle. "Tomoki? You in there little buddy?" He only called Tomoki his "little buddy" when he acted sentimental, or was sincerely upset. Another light tap. "Come on, open up."

It took a few minutes, but eventually his young cousin granted him entry. Closing the door behind him, Takuya took a seat next to Tomoki on his bed. "I know you're mad at me."

"You hurt her, Taki-niisan."

Takuya put his hand on Tomoki's head. "It was an accident, I didn't mean it." When he first realized who he hit, a wave of guilt washed over him. "I only hit her once, and I didn't even know who it was." All the while they had grown up, the boys learned it was practically a sin to hit a girl. "You know I'd never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it."

"But you did." Tomoki emphasized.

"I know," Takuya put his head in his hands. "and I'm sorry. Okay? Do you forgive me?"

Tomoki was silent, thinking, and answered with, "Only if you don't fight anymore." He finally looked at Takuya. "I'll forgive you if you stop getting into fights."

Takuya sighed, his little cousin's feeling were more a priority than his own. "I can't promise anything, if I get really mad it can't be helped, but I'll try."

Tomoki gave him a small smile. "Okay."

Takuya ruffled his hair. "I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore." He flashed a smile, a real one, at him before walking back to his room. He paused at the door way, surprised at seeing the once unconscious girl sitting up. She turned to him, sensing his presence.

"Takuya?" She looked at him questionably. He assumed it was because, of all places, she had woken up here. "Where am I?"

He was silent, guilt hitting him once again. "My house." That piece of information was enough for her to turn red, he raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She must've figured she was in his room. "Do you remember what happened?" He mostly referred to when he punched her, but slightly to why she was there in the first place.

"Oh, um.." She placed a hand on her head, attempting to remember. "I was taking a walk, trying to get familiar with the area. It was getting dark, so I decided to go back home. But those two men stopped me," Her voice started to quiver. "they said.. they were going to have fun with me, and-"

"Stop." Hikari jumped at Takuya's abrupt loudness. His arms were crossed, his eyes shone with slight aggravation. "I get it, what happened after that?"

She was relieved she didn't have to repeat what they had said, it still unnerved her. "Well, from what I heard, someone showed up, and started fighting them. He knocked them out, and I went to find out who it was, I couldn't tell since it was dark. I tapped his shoulder, next thing I know I'm waking up here." She looked at Takuya. "How did I get here?"

He averted his gaze. "That person, was me." He heard Hikari gasp, and continued before she could say more. "As for what happened; when you touched my shoulder, I was still tense, I thought you were another thug. I struck before realizing who it was, and you were already knocked out." He cleared his throat and looked up. "You have a black eye, in case you didn't notice."

Hikari's hand shot up, she had felt the pain but assumed it was her eyes adjusting to the light. Sure enough, when she tapped below her eye, she winced as the pain spiked up.

"Your brother called," Hikari looked back at him, Takuya was slowly making his way toward the desk. "I told him you were alright, but I didn't say where you were." He tossed her the phone, sitting down in his chair. "He was upset; you should call him."

She nodded, holding down a button; speed dialing. She placed the phone to her ear.

Taichi answered before the first ring was over. "_Where the hell is my sister!_"

"Oniichan, it's me." she said calmly.

"_Hikari? Where are you? Who answered the phone? Are you alright?_" Taichi went on with his questions.

"I'm fine, I'll tell you what happened when I get home." She quickly added, "I'll be on my way in a few minutes, relax." Takuya rolled his eyes, _she_ wasn't even relaxed. "Bye." Once she hung up, an awkward silence fell between the two. "I should be getting home." she muttered, standing up from the bed.

Takuya instantly stood as well. "I'm walking you." Hikari noticed he wasn't asking, he was simply stating the fact that he _was_ walking her.

"It's okay, I can-"

Takuya glared at her. "You were almost raped. It's not like you're safe now that an attempt was already made. If you're not careful it'll happen again." He jerked his head toward the door, gesturing her to follow him. The two made their way downstairs, Takuya started putting his shoes on.

"Leaving already?" Yutaka said, walking out of the kitchen. Hikari looked at him. "I'm Himi Yutaka."

"Yagami Hikari."

He blinked, recognizing the name. "You're Taichi's sister, huh?" She nodded. "I thought so, he mentioned you." Yutaka grinned. "Sorry you're stuck dealing with Takuya."

Hikari knew he was joking. "It's not too bad."

"We're going now." Takuya said, more loudly than need be. Hikari said goodbye to Yutaka before following Takuya.

"Your brother seems nice." she commented. Takuya stiffened when she said, "your brother." but slowly calmed himself. "Thanks for walking me, by the way." He shrugged.

Five minutes of silence occured before Takuya coughed, "Sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry." He repeated, louder. "You know, for hitting you."

She lightly smiled. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt that much." He grunted. "You did save me, after all."

Takuya scowled. "Don't go mentioning it to Kouji and the others, and if they ask where that black eye came from, just tell them you ran into something."

"Tomorrow's Saturday." she pointed out. "I'm sure it'll mostly be gone by Monday." He didn't respond, and she wondered if she should try to get to know him. Surely he wasn't as frightening as she first thought, after all, he did save her. Then again, he obviously wasn't the type to talk often, much less about himself. Suddenly, she remembered seeing a white patch on his forehead. "Takuya, are you alright? I saw the-"

"I'm fine." he said in a harsh tone, silencing her instantly. "Those thugs were nothing, not even good enough to be considered a warm up."

Hikari's eyes widened, she slowly pieced things together. "Do you always get into fights?"

Takuya's head jerked in her direction, anger showing in his eyes. "That's none of your damn business, now is it?" She didn't respond, he looked forward again, the rest of the walk was in silence.

"Thank you, again." she mumbled, walking onto her doorstep.

"Whatever." Takuya turned on his heel, and walked away.

Hikari sighed, she had hoped to get on his good side, but that didn't go in her favor. She opened the door, entering her house. She wasn't two steps in until she was trapped between two arms.

"Hikari! Thank god you're okay!" Taichi swung his sister around. "What happened; why didn't you call? And who was that guy that answered the phone?"

"Onii-chan." she groaned, finding it difficult to breathe. He released her, but still waited for his explanation. Hikari sighed, and started to retell the events to her brother. The walk, when she was attacked, how Takuya saved her.. She left out the part where he accidentally hit her, nor that she was unconscious. Instead she said she had been in shock, and didn't want to talk to anyone.

Taichi's face was red with anger, his breathing was heavy as he attempted to calm himself. "So," he started, once he recollected himself. "this, Takuya, is the one who saved you, and the one that answered the phone?"

Hikari nodded, then remembered Yutaka. "I think you know his brother, Yutaka?"

His expression softened. "Takuya's his brother, that makes me feel a bit better. I know you'd be safe him; of course, on the phone he wasn't very talkative."

"He isn't," she agreed. "but I think it's just because he doesn't know how to act around people."

Taichi nodded, and hugged his sister again. "I'm just glad you're okay." He pulled himself away. "For a while there, I actually thought.." He exhaled, closing his eyes. "I actually thought Susumu had gotten you." Hikari's throat grew thick, she didn't speak in fear of crying. Taichi opened his eyes. "Just get some sleep, alright? Be glad that everything's behind us now." She nodded to assure him, but in the back of her mind, she knew he was wrong.

* * *

"Come on, Kouji!" Ruki called, leaning against the wooden door. "It won't be that bad."

Kouichi watched the exchange between his twin brother and friend, his eyes sparkling with amusement. It was usual for them to act odd, constantly carrying out crazy ideas. This was no exception. Currently, Kouji was locked in his bedroom, his only escape from Ruki. The tom-boy was anxiously awaiting for him to exit, knowing he had to at some point.

"You're insane! What ever gave you this idea?" Kouji said from inside his room.

"Ever since you grew it." she shot back.

A knock on the door caught their attention, Kouichi went to answer it. He knew Kouji wouldn't leave his sanctuary, and Ruki wouldn't leave her post. He opened the door, already knowing who he'd be seeing. "Hey Takuya, maybe now things can settle down."

He rolled his eyes. "What are they up to now?"

Kouichi shrugged. "Ruki wants to give Kouji a haircut." Takuya's eyebrows shot up, he shot a puzzled look at her.

"I've never liked that damn ponytail, it's so weird." Ruki answered his unspoken question.

"Don't shun my hair!" was the protest from Kouji.

"I won't even cut it that much. Kouichi's hair is fine, and his is only a little shorter than yours."

They heard him scoff. "This ponytail is what defines me, it's the only difference between me and him. If I got a haircut, then there would be no difference."

"So that ponytail is to make a statement?"

"Yes!"

Takuya sighed, his friends were complete idiots. "Ruki, Kouji's hairstyle is his choice. So drop it, I'm not in the mood to deal with your antics." She rolled her eyes, but listened to him.

"You get off _this_ time, but I _will_ get that thing cut off." she vowed. Silence. "Kouji?" More silence. She turned to Kouichi, who simply tossed her a key. Ruki quickly unlocked it, entering the room. "That sneaky little bastard! He went out the window." In the distance, they heard a shout of freedom. Kouichi burst out laughing, Takuya even chuckled. Ruki came back out. "Well, since we're down one, let's go get his replacement." The two boys gave her blank stares. "Hikari, you idiots."

Takuya scoffed. He never stopped seeing that girl. Thankfully, Kouichi pointed something out. "We don't know where she lives." Takuya eased himself, he wasn't about to tell them he - in fact - _did_ know. That would bring up questions that he didn't want to deal with, plus he wasn't interested in being in her company any longer than necessary.

Ruki smirked. "Kouji said she moved into that house that'd been empty forever, right? We know which house that is." Takuya resisted the urge to scoff, nothing went in his favor lately. "So let's go!"

* * *

Taichi opened the front door, arching an eyebrow at the three strangers he was met by. "Can I help you?" he asked slowly.

"We're here for Hikari, is she available?" Ruki replied.

He nodded, his head twisted so he could look over his shoulder. "Hikari, door for you."

Moments later she appeared beside her brother. "Oh, it's you guys. How'd you know where I lived?" She quickly glanced at Takuya; he was the only one who knew her address, but she doubted he would let them know that.

"Kouji said you'd moved into this house, it's been empty for a while so we memorized the address." Ruki explained.

Taichi cleared his throat. "Hikari? Won't you introduce me?"

"Sorry, this is Ruki," she nodded to the tom-boy. "Kouichi," The dark haired boy waved. "Takuya." The final boy didn't give any sort of greeting, he simply stood with the same bored expression on his face.

Taichi recognized the name. "Takuya? You mean the one who-" Takuya's eyes narrowed, the older boy better not reveal anything about the previous night. Not after he spent so much effort hiding it from his friends.

Hikari, with her quick thinking, didn't miss a beat. "-the one who's Yutaka's brother. That's right." She stepped onto the porch and started to close the door. "I'll be going now, Onii-chan."

He stopped the door to say one final thing. "Just make sure you come home, _on time_. I don't want another repeat of last night." She nodded and closed the door.

"What happened last night?" Kouichi asked.

"I just stayed out longer than I should've." Hikari told them. "My brother just worries too much." She didn't lie, but didn't tell the whole truth. Then she noticed they were one person short. "Where's Kouji?"

"Who knows."

As they wandered around trying to figure out what to do, as well as keeping an eye out for Kouji, Takuya realized something was amiss. Nobody had asked Hikari about her black eye. He looked at the girl and discovered the reason; she used cover-up to hide it. He felt like a moron. To hide his own wound he removed the bandage and combed his shaggy hair down to cover it. As he examined the girl, he noticed something else. She walked with a slight limp, and winced every now and then. He furrowed his eyebrows, it was possible she was hurt more than he knew. Takuya shook his head, she wasn't dying and so he didn't care. The girl was nothing but a nuisance, and he didn't want to get used to the task of looking out for her. He released an aggravated sigh, and walked off.

"Takuya, where are you going?" Ruki asked.

"To join Kouji."

* * *

_Eh, I feel like I could've ended it better, but nothing came to me. At least we got something going. (That can apply to many things, as it's not too obvious as to what exactly is going.) Regarding "Vengeful Darkness", I was working on it before I finished this, but got a case of Writer's Block. No worries, it's half way done, more or less. As for "A Hunter's Curse" Aye aye aye, I still ask myself, why a vampire fic? Tis not my forte! I'm considering rewriting it to where it has the same plot, just not with vampires. Nothing against them, just can't write them! This story might not be updated as quickly as it was now, I'm still thinking about a few things here and there, but thet shouldn't take long. Key word: shouldn't. Happy Holidays!_


	5. Chapter 4

_I changed the ages of the characters. It just seemed necessary. Previous chapters will be edited accordingly._

_Takuya, The Twins - 17_

_Hikari, Ruki - 16_

_Taichi - 20_

_Yutaka - 21_

_Tomoki - 13_

_Enjoy the chapter! XD_

* * *

Despite knowing better, and being wounded from the same mistake not too long ago, Takuya took another night time stroll. He liked taking walks during the night; he wouldn't be deprived of one of the rare things that he liked. He didn't like walking during the day, however. Whether it be because during the day there were too many people out, or because the night comforted him. Somehow he felt like he were conquering some fear by being out at night. The fear of the same darkness that took his parents, or the fear of history repeating itself. He didn't know. All he knew was that his walks helped him feel better. That was all the reason he needed.

His hands were tucked in his pockets in an attempt to stay warm. With winter approaching the night temperature started to decrease, but he didn't wear a coat. Should the need arise for him to run, it constricted him too much. Besides, feeling the coldness reminded him that he _could_ feel. That he wasn't the complete stoic shell he'd been molded into. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't quite remember a time when he'd been a carefree young boy. Running around for no reason, getting dirty from rough housing, arguing with-

Takuya stiffened, violently shaking his head. He hated thinking that, it was worse than thinking about his parents. He ran a hand through his hair, how he wished he could forget. He knew his personality saddened his friends and family, and that was something he didn't want. Yet it was just natural for him. It became easier when everyone started avoiding and ignoring him. He waited for his loved ones to do the same, so he could be completely alone, but they never did. They stuck by him, and encouraged him no matter how terrible was. He was forever grateful, because he wouldn't have been able to stand it if his relatives left him. His friends were another privilege; he didn't want to lose them either. The twins and Ruki were the only ones that associated with him; the other kids avoided him because of his reputation.

Hikari didn't avoid him. That struck him as odd. She was a timid girl that seemed afraid of her own shadow. Why would she hang around with something as frightening as him? True she was friends with Ruki and the twins, but that didn't mean she had to try and befriend him. Yet she did. Well, not technically tried to befriend him, but she had spoke to him once or twice. That's more than he could say for a lot of people. The two haven't spoken much, but a lot of his focus has been on or around her lately. He remembered her unusual behavior the first day; how evasive she had been. The incident a few days ago only added to his thoughts about her.

He scoffed. _What does she matter to me? I've been this way forever, just because she's scared of me doesn't mean I have to act nice toward her. _He was becoming frustrated. The girl hadn't done anything to attract his curiosity, but at the same time she had. He felt stupid; getting worked up about someone he didn't know, or even care to get to know.

_"Takuya! Go out there and apologize right now, mister!"_

He halted in his tracks. His mother's voice numbed his senses, he felt his body tremble slightly.

_"But Kaasan, she's mean! She said bad things to me and Kouji."_

_"That doesn't give you the right to dump paint on her. You go out there and apologize."_

_"No! I don't like her."_

_Yuriko sighed. "Takuya, we've raised you better than this. You know never to judge someone until you've gotten to know them."_

_"I know she's mean."_

_"So her first impression wasn't the best. For all you know she's just scared around new people. Remember, you and Kouji didn't meet in the friendliest of terms."_

_It had been in second grade. Takuya had gone to school despite coming down with a cold. His nose was running heavily, and he needed to sneeze. Kouji had taken his bandanna off for a few seconds, and Takuya had grabbed it thinking it was a tissue. The other boy had been furious to find snot covering his bandanna. The two boys became archenemies for months, until Kouichi finally got them to get along. Takuya pouted. "Fine. I'll apologize."_

Against his will the corners of his lips lifted in a grin. That was a memory of when he first met Ruki. She and Kouji got into an argument, and in retaliation he'd taken one of the paint tubes and "accidentally" squirted it all over her. The bright pink looked ridiculous around her enraged expression. His mother got him to apologize, and they slowly became friends. He laughed, remembering Ruki getting even by ambushing him and Kouji with water balloons filled with paint.

His thoughts went to how his mother would perceive his situation. She wouldn't be happy to know he was being unfair to someone who hadn't done anything bad to him. He instantly felt guilty. _She'd be so disappointed in me._ He sighed, hardening his wavering nerves. However, the guilty wouldn't leave him. _Fine. I'll try to be nicer, but only for you, Kaasan._

Takuya was too wrapped in his thoughts to hear footsteps approaching him. He jumped when a high voice called out to him, "Little chilly out here, ain't it?" He whirled around, his fists locked and ready. The boy held his hands up. "Whoa, hold it there, pal. I ain't here for a fight." Takuya examined him. He wasn't very lean, and he could easily overpower him. His dark brown hair hung shagging around his face. It was too dark to see the color of his eyes, but it didn't really matter. Takuya couldn't remove his eyes from his face; he seemed familiar. A twinge in his temple warned him, but he couldn't place this boy's face.

He eventually gave up and dropped his position. He failed to realize the younger boy had closely examined him as well. Takuya moved around him, careful not to leave himself open for a surprise attack. The boy shrugged and walked away. His smirk went unnoticed by Takuya. _So that's__ Takuya, huh? Sure looked ready for a fight. Wonder why Susumu wants him dead, looks like he'd be useful._

* * *

"Hikari, lets go get some ice cream." Taichi suggested, slipping on a blue overcoat.

She laughed, "Taichi it's too cold for ice cream." It was mid-November, and they were expecting snow any day now.

He shrugged, "We'll do something else then. Come on." He pushed his sister out the door and into the car. As he rolled out of the driveway he said, "I feel bad we haven't spent a lot of time together lately, and after Friday's incident I realized I should pay more attention."

"It's okay, Oniichan, I know you have to work and all."

"I know you do, but that doesn't mean I'm too busy for my little sister."

Hikari smiled; she always loved the relationship she had with her brother. He was always able to make her laugh, made time to hang out with her, listened to her problems no matter how petty, and, of course, was extremely protective. She knew she was lucky; not many siblings had this great a connection. The only other sibling pair she knew of that connected like they did were two old friends of theirs, Takeru Takashi and Yamato Ishida.

The thought of the brothers brought a sudden feeling of depression. She sighed, tuning to look out the window. Taichi shot his sister a confused glance, then quickly turned back to the road. "What's wrong, Hikari?"

"I-I just thought of Takeru for a second."

He frowned. Takeru was Hikari's best friend since they were toddlers, same with the two older brothers. They were the only two out of their group of friends who knew the truth of their departure. He also felt a feeling of longing to see his friends again. He swallowec past his thick throat and forced a smile. "I'm sure he's doing fine. I wonder how Yamato's doing with the band. I'll remember to ask the next time we talk." he said this in a cheerful manner, but it brought sadness to both siblings.

* * *

"Takuya!" He turned and instantly caught the soccer ball between his feet, not sparring a moment to take off down the field. Kouji waited up ahead, planning on stealing the all from him. Ruki covered Kouichi, who was coming from the back.

The five friends were at the park. With Takuya, Ruki, and the twins playing soccer, and Hikari watching from the bench. Her camera was hanging around her neck; she'd brought it with her in case a good picture caught her eye.

Kouji stepped forward, and as he anticipated, Takuya moved left. He jumped in that same direction but Takuya kicked the ball right, it was intercepted by Ruki. "Damnit, Kouichi! You were supposed to watch her."

The older twin scoffed, "Not my fault she's faster than me." His brother only rolled his eyes and took off after the redhead. He didn't stand much of a chance between both Takuya and Ruki, but he would try. He ran past both of them and blocked the net, knowing that was his best bet. The game was set on open net; no goalies, and if he was blocking it he couldn't use his hands.

Kouji kept his eyes on Takuya, who always gave the final score. Sooner or later Ruki would pass it to him, and they were already pretty close. Once they were about 20 feet from the net, she passed it to Takuya. Kouji smirked and angled his foot so he was prepared to move right. When Takuya was practically in Kouji's face, he smirked and immediately sent the ball to Ruki.

"Sh-" Kouji couldn't finish his curse before the ball whizzed past his face and into the goal.

"Alright!" Ruki cried, "That makes ten. We win!" She stuck her tongue out at Kouji.

"Tch. Whatever. I gotta go to my kendo lesson, see you guys tomorrow." Kouichi waved as he left with his brother.

Hikari watched them leave. "Kouji takes kendo lessons?"

"Yeah, started when he was nine." Ruki explained. "His mom thought letting him do martial arts would involve him in more fights, so he had to go wth kendo." Hikari nodded absentmindedly; she was thinking of someone she knew that also took kendo. "Well good game, guys. I gotta go, Kaasan needs to talk to me about something. See yah." Just like the twins, she was gone.

Hikari tensed, realizing she was alone with Takuya. The cold-hearted male stood with his arms crossed, a nuetral air about him. She cleared her throat, "So, uh, what should we do, Takuya?"

He looked at her, and eventually shrugged. "Let's just walk around, maybe we'll find something." She blinked. Takuya was supposed to walk away, or complain that he was stuck with her. Maybe he was just getting used to her? Takuya glanced back over his shoulder, and realized she hadn't moved. "You coming?"

She snapped out of her stupor. "Oh, yeah!"

Takuya scoffed and turned forward again. _What am I doing? It's not like we're gonna talk to each other or anything, I've got nothing to say to her. _He tossed his soccer ball in the air as they strolled; it wasn't like he had any real company to entertain him. _I should just leave her here. We're not friends; we're never gonna be friends. It was easy to befriend Ruki, I was social back then._

"Takuya?" Hikari started, timidly.

"Hn."

"You're a good soccer player. Are you on the school team?"

Takuya recognized this as a conversation starter. "No, don't wanna be."

"Oh. Why not?"

He scoffed. "You need to ask? It's not worth it to be hassled by a bunch of people."

"Why are you so.."

He glared back at her. "So what?" His harsh tone caused her to flinch. She looked down at the sidewalk. Takuya fully turned to her. "Go ahead. You got something to say, say it to my face."

"I.. I just-"

"Spit it out!"

Hikari clenched her fists. Something inside her just seemed to snap. She lifted her head and said loudly, "I just wanted to ask why you're so alone!" Takuya was taken aback, but she didn't stop there. "I don't see what I did wrong to you, Takuya. I've just tried to be your friend, or at least get along with you since I've been here. But you just hate the world and everyone in it! I don't know what your problem is, but it doesn't give you the right to be such a.. a _bastard_!" She took a deep breath, having used all the oxygen she had. Suddenly, everything she'd just said clicked. Hikari gasped, covering her mouth.

Takuya stood, wide-eyed. He was too surprised that someone had actually talked back to him like that. Besides his loved ones, that is. In addition to that, it was Hikari that did it. The girl that seemed scared to speak had just called him out.

"I.." She was speechless. She knew Takuya would be furious at her, and that thought was enough to make her take a step back. "I'm sorry, I-I don't-"

"Why?" Takuya's tone stopped her. It wasn't soft, but it was low and devoid of his prior anger. He locked his eyes with hers. "Why do you want to be my friend?"

Hikari blinked. It was such a simple question, but it took her some time to figure out an answer. "I-I don't like leaving people alone. I think everyone should have a friend, or someone who's just willing to be _there_. I know you have Ruki and the twins, but since you were so distant, I thought if you interacted more you wouldn't be so.. isolated." Where were these words coming from? She didn't understand, but they felt like the right things to say.

Takuya's eyes seemed to change. Instead of the cold, black eyes she used to see. They were now a warm hazel, and right then, he didn't look so intimedating as he'd always been. Suddenly, a rock struck the back of hs head, and his eyes darkened once more.

A snicker was heard behind him. "I didn't think you were so low as to attack a girl, Takuya."

Hikari looked past him and saw a boy their age. He had dirty blonde hair, and brown eyes that announced trouble. He wore a yellow, button-up shirt, brown trousers, and dark green shoes. Takuya turned around to face him. "Katsuharu." he hissed, sending a chill down Hikari's spine.

Katsuharu looked at Hikari. "Don't worry, lil lady. I'll stop him from messing with you."

"But he wasn't-" She didn't have time to finish as Takuya started to move forward. Going entirely on impulse, she reached out and grabbed his arm. "Takuya, don't do anything!"

"If he wants a fight, he came to the right person." He tried to remove his arm, but she held on.

"No! He's just causing trouble. Let's walk away."

"Let go of me."

Katsuharu's eyes widened, then he smirked. "Oh, so you've got yourself a girlfriend, huh? What'd you do, rape her and get her pregnant so she has to stay with you?"

Takuya went stiff, causing Hikari to look at him warily. His breathing hitched, and he felt himself about to break. He turned his head toward Hikari. "Let go of my arm." he emphasized each word, a dangerous tone in his voice. Before she could protest, he gently pried her fingers off before nudging her away from him. The next second he took Katsuharu to the ground. Hikari screamed, covering her mouth.

Takuya was on top of Katsuharu, punching his skull. Katsuharu had his head ducked, and therefore only punched what he could see; Takuya's stomach. He struggled to bring his foot up, and when he did, kicked Takuya off him. Takuya instantly got to his feet, grabbing the fist that almost connected with his head. He grabbed Katsuharu's arm and swung him around, then slammed him into a building. He twisted the arm behind his back, trapping him. Katsuharu attempted in vain to kick back and hit Takuya with his heel.

"Stop it, Takuya!" Hikari grabbed his arm again, trying to pull him away. A brief feeling of deja vu washed over her; Taichi used to fight a lot and she would try to pull him away. It never worked then, either. The boys were too strong for her. "You won, so let's go." Takuya didn't budge, he pressed Katsuharu's arm harder into his back. The other boy grunted in pain. "Takuya!"

His eyes flicked to the side, and his expression softened. Hikari had tears at the edges of her eyes. Her image morphed into Tomoki's for a split second. Takuya sighed, releasing the other boy. He glared at Katsuharu as he allowed Hikari to pull him away. The two walked for a while, neither saying anything. Takuya cursed himself; he felt guilty about losing his cool, and for upsetting Hikari. The last thought didn't make any sense, nor that he saw Tomoki when he looked at Hikari.

After another period of silence he sighed, "Sorry."

That seemed to bush Hikari's button. "What's wrong with you? You didn't have to fight him! We coulda just walked away!"

He glared at her, but she didn't seem fazed. "You don't know him like I do. Hell, you don't know _me_!"

"Who's fault is that?"

Takuya gritted his teeth. "Why did I even think-" He paused. "Keh, Whatever." He started to walk off.

"Go ahead, run away like you always do!"

He stopped. _"What?"_

"Everytime it seems like you could finally open up, or even be happy, you leave. You're a coward, Takuya!" He fully turned around. "You wanna stay in your cocoon and not face people in the world, well open your eyes! You can't hide forever."

"And what about you? You're scared of everything, and I don't see you going around making friends with everyone."

"I've only been here like a week! You've been here your whole life and your only friends are Ruki and the twins. And they're more like your babysitters than friends."

"Shut up!" Takuya rubbed his head. "You don't know anything! Don't make such assumptions!"

"I would if you'd tell me!"

Takuya's fist flew past her face and into the wall next to her. His head was lowered. "Shut up, just, shut up." His body was trembling.

Hikari took a deep breath; calming herself. "I-I'm sorry. I hardly ever lose my temper, but I-I don't know.."

He sighed, "I guess we're even. I lost my temper, too." _Besides, all you did was tell the truth. _He withdrew his hand; his knuckles were split open and bleeding. Hikari gasped. "Don't worry about it, I'll bandage it when I get home." She nodded, and the duo was thrown back into an uncomfortable silence. Takuya looked at the girl across from him. He chuckled.

She glanced up. "What's so funny?"

"I think you're the only one in a long time who's yelled at me. I mean, besides my friends, family, and people who just wanna fight."

"What's so special about that?"

A sad smile crossed his face, then it quickly disappeared. "I should go home."

"Yeah, me too."

Takuya nodded, "See you later." Hikari watched him walk off, a smile on her face. He closed his eyes. _Guess it all worked out. Was that entertaining for you, Kaasan, Tousan?... Heh, that girl's different, for sure. _He felt a warm feeling in his chest; one he hadn't felt in years.

* * *

Hikari took a deep breath before entering the classroom. She was nervous to see Takuya after their argument yesterday. They'd parted on a seemingly good note, but she didn't think Takuya forgave her. She berated herself all night for her terrible behavior. It was sudden; she never got angry, yet she had no problem reprimanding him. Sure it was a habit of yelling at Taichi, but not with that kind of anger.

The brunette sat at his desk, head laying on top of his crossed arms, eyes closed. Hikari hesitating in approaching him._ He was strangely nice yesterday, maybe he's finally warmed up to me. In that case, I shouldn't worry. _She walked over to his desk, sitting on the one beside him. "Good Morning." He opened an eye, then closed it. He grunted his greeting. _Guess no one can change overnight. _"Um, sorry about yesterday. I was outta line and-"

"I told you it's nothing to bat an eye at. Everyone gets mad at some point."

She nodded. "Yeah." A memory sudden flashed through her head. "Oh, how's your hand?" Before he could reply, she pulled his arm out from under him. His head smacked into the desk, but she paid more attention to the white bandages on his hand. "Good, you bandaged it."

He rubbed his chin. "You thought I wouldn't?"

"Pretty much."

"Hn!"

"Quit being a grouch."

"When did you start talking back to me?"

"When I realized I could get away with it. Also because that's all you respond to."

"Who said you could get away with it?"

"You did."

"That was yesterday!"

"So? You won't hurt me."

Takuya growled, putting his head back on his arms. He glowered at the girl, but she was unaffected. Instead she shot a smile at him. Despite his scowl he was inwardly happy. He and Kouji argued all the time, but it was different with Hikari. Maybe it was because their petty fights wouldn't result in violence. On his part anyway.

"You two seem to be getting along." He looked at Ruki, and the twins behind her. "When did this occur?"

Hikari realized Takuya wouldn't say anything, and took it upon herself. "We got into an argument, some things were said and I guess I earned his respect."

"Really now?" Kouji smirked at him. "Takuya surrendered to an innocent girl like Hikari?" He looked at said girl. "That's an accomplishment to be proud of." She laughed, joined by the others when Takuya pouted.

"So, anything else interesting happen yesterday?" Kouichi asked.

Hikari remained silent; she wasn't sure whether or not to mention Takuya getting into a fight. However, Takuya found it important to mention. "Katsuharu's out." The three went dead quiet, their faces were expressionless. _And he has his eyes on Hikari. _It was a fact they should be aware of, but Takuya kept it from them. He couldn't admit aloud that she was in trouble, because of him.

Ruki was the first to speak. "They let that bastard outta prison?"

Hikari gasped, "He was in prison? For what?"

The four exchanged glances. "It's not something to talk about here, let's just say he's bad news."

Kouji nodded. "Stay away from him, if you can."

She nodded. Fear grew in the pit of her stomach. _Another dangerous person. I just got away from Susumu, and now I have to watch out for Katsuharu? It's like I'm back in Odaiba. _

* * *

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 5

_Formerly "Deadly Secrets"_

* * *

Today had a special feeling to it, at least to Hikari it did. She woke up early this morning in a great mood; she knew it would be a good day, and that's exactly what she needed. A day to get away from the tense atmosphere she'd been encased in.

Unable to sit still, she left her house earlier than usual. She wrapped her pink sweater tighter around her, shivering from the frosty morning air. _Oh well, at least it's the last season until spring. _It was her favorite season. All the wildlife emerged out of the dark crevices they'd hidden in; appearing even more beautiful than they had seemed previously.

As she walked, Hikari made sure to observe her surroundings. She still wasn't too familiar with Shibuya; she hadn't gone exploring since the incident that night. All she really knew was where the school and marketing place were located. _Maybe Oniichan and I can go for a walk one of these days.._

Her thoughts drifted to the small group of oddballs she'd learned to call friends. She smiled; her argument with Takuya seemed to finally break the tension that stopped them from being friendly with each other. Well, if Takuya's behavior could be classified as "friendly". He was slowly accepting her, and that was good enough.

The smile was wiped clean when she remembered knew from her friends' reactions toward the boy that they despised every last bit of him. _Apparently he's bad news. Wonder what he did that was so horrible._ She could tell that it was a sore subject, and maybe they wouldn't trust her with the story. She understood, they hadn't known each other that long.

Hikari shook her head. "No bad thoughts today." An abrupt rumbling in her abdomen startled her. "Whoops, guess I was so excited I didn't eat breakfast." She sighed. "I don't even know where any cafes are." Still, she wouldn't let that ruin her mood. She checked her phone for the time; 7:20.  
"Oh, I have plenty of time. Certainly I can find somewhere to eat before school."

She wandered off toward the marketing area, having popped into her mind first. After fifteen minutes of walking, she eventually came to the realization she was lost. "You've gotta be kidding me." Nothing in the area was familiar to her; and a feeling of panic began to creep over her.

A bell chimed; the kind that sounds when someone enters a store. Hikari glanced in the direction of the noise, and was met with a sign that read: Matsuda Bakery.

The irony of it all made Hikari laugh. "At least in the end I found what I was looking for." She quickly crossed the street and entered the bakery. The tiny bell chimed upon her arrival.

The middle-aged woman at the counter looked up. "Good morning, dear."

Hikari nodded. "Morning." She gazed at the small collection of pastries by the window. Her eyes brightened when she saw a batch of cream puffs. "My favorite!" She went up to the counter. "A dozen cream puffs, please."

The woman stared at her. "A dozen? You sure you can eat that many?"

She blushed. "You'd be surprised." The response she received was a laugh and a shake of the head.

"One moment." The woman walked into the back room, which was blocked off by a light green curtain.

Hikari rocked back and forth on her heels, waiting. She looked up when she heard footsteps heading back out, but instead of the woman, it was a teenage boy carrying a tray of bread. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed the stack of bread went above his line of sight; he couldn't see where he was going.

A voice called out from the back. "Takato, be careful."

"Relax Kaasan, I'm fi-Oof!" His hip hit the side of the counter. He quickly spun before falling back on his rear. The bread getting flung into the air before raining back down on him. "Oh beans..."

Hikari gasped, and quickly went over to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Well, until Kaasan sees this mess of course." He looked up, and a look of recognition crossed his face. "Oh, good morning Hikari-chan."

She blinked. "You know my name?"

"Yeah, we have history together."

She thought for a moment. "I think I've seen you. You sit by the window, huh?"

He nodded. "Ah, I've gotta clean this up." He started collecting the loaves of bread and putting them back on the tray. Hikari bent down to help.

"I hope you don't plan on putting these out to customers." she laughed.

He laughed along. "Well, we manage to sell the day old bagels my dad puts out. Though these might actually taste better." The two of them laughed.

Mrs. Matsuda walked back out, a white bag filled with cream puffs in hand. She froze after seeing the bread on the floor. "Takato!"

He scratched the back of his head, laughing sheepishly. "Sorry Kaasan, I ran into the counter."

She sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "I'm getting too old for this. Just don't put them out like your father does." She lowered her voice to mumble, "Lord knows how he hasn't run us outta business." but Takato and Hikari still heard it. Mrs. Matsuda held up the bag. "I have your cream puffs, dear."

Hikari stood. "Thank you." She walked over to the counter and paid for her pastries.

Takato rose too, having gathered the rest of the bread. "Heading to school, Hikari-chan?"

"Oh, um.." She remembered her predicament. "Kinda." He shot her a funny look. "I kinda got lost on the way. I only moved here about a couple weeks ago, and I don't completely know my way around. So.."

He laughed. "I understand. Hey, if you don't mind waiting a few minutes I'll walk with you."

She beamed a smile. "That'd be great! Thanks!"

Takato nodded. "I won't be long." He went behind the curtain, and she could hear him jogging up a staircase. His mother went back also to finish making more treats. Hikari sat on one of the green chairs by the wall. Moments later Takato bounded down the stairs. He was breathing heavily. "So, let's go shall we?"

As the two walked, Hikari happily took small bites out of her cream puffs.

"So Hikari-chan, where'd you come from?" Takato asked after while of silence.

"Odaiba." She answered shortly, the tone of her voice giving hint that she didn't want to explain.

Takato picked up on that hint. "So, uh, what's your family like?"

"It's my mother, my brother, and I. My mother can't cook to save her life, then again neither can my brother."

He laughed. "Good things _they're_ not the ones running a bakery."

"Really? I think her fungus cookies would sell wonderfully." She laughed as well.

Takato turned a bit green after hearing the word "fungus". He decided to change the topic of conversation. "Have you made any friends since you've been here?"

She nodded. "Their names are Makino Ruki, Minamoto Kouichi and Kouji, and Kanbara Takuya." Takato's flinch went unnoticed by her. "You know them?"

"Kinda. I've been going to school with them for a while. But we've never really talked, you know?"

Another nod. "I know what you mean. They're not very social butterflies." Takato looked away. "Who're your friends, Takato-kun?"

"My best friend is Lee Jenrya, and more of my close friends include Katou Jeri, Shibayama Junpei, and Orimoto Izumi."

"I'd like to meet them."

He scratched the back of his head. "I'm sure you'll get the chance. Jen-kun's in our history class." A familiar building came into view. "Ah, there's the school." The duo entered the gate and walked up the front steps. "I'll see you in history, Hikari-chan."

"Yeah. Thanks for walking me, Takato-kun." He waved as he ran off in the opposite direction.

Hikari smiled. "The people here are so nice. I'm glad."

She walked into her Chemistry class to find Ruki, Takuya, and the twins already there. They all glanced up as she approached.

"You're late." Kouichi noted.

"Sorry, I kinda got lost on the way." Ruki laughed, the twins rolled their eyes, and Takuya only shook his head.

"What's in the bag?" Ruki asked, spotting the white paper bag in Hikari's possession.

"Oh, I stopped for cream puffs on the way, and-" she paused upon seeing Ruki's hand slowly reach for the bag. She laughed and pulled one out for the spiky redhead.

"Whoo!" She snatched it and ran over to her seat. She jumped on the desk and began eating her cream puff. Hikari laughed and also gave one to each of the twins. She handed one to Takuya but he shook his head.

"No thanks."

Kouji took the rounded pastry from her. "Just eat the damn puff." He forcefully pressed the creamy dessert into the brunette's lips. Takuya smacked his hand away, scooting back in the process. Kouji laughed, seeing the white cream covering Takuya's face.

Takuya grasped the fallen cream puff and quickly shoved it into Kouji's open mouth. Kouji's mouth snapped shut, his face scrunched in distaste. He spat the cream puff out of his mouth. "That's gross!" He ran out to get a drink of water.

Ruki was on her desk, laughing loudly along with Kouichi. Hikari tried in a futile attempt not to laugh, but her red face gave it away regardless.

"That wasn't nice you know." Hikari said after corralling her bubbling mirth.

"He started it."

She giggled; it sounded immature even coming from Takuya. "Well either way you're grounded."

"What?"

"You wanna act five year olds, I'll treat you like five year olds."

He arched a brow at her. "You're weird."

"Like you should talk." Ruki interrupted, swiping another cream puff from Hikari's bag. She looked at the logo on the bag, eyes flashing in recognition. _I thought these tasted like Takato's... _Her eyes flicked to Hikari for a moment. _I wonder if she met him yet._

* * *

As Hikari walked into her history class, the only class she didn't have any of her friends in, she heard: "Hikari-chan!" She glanced over and saw the spunky brunette she met that morning. As she approached them, she noticed another boy with blue/green hair.

"Hello, Yagami-san. I'm Lee Jenrya. Takato-kun told me about you."

They shook hands. "It's nice to meet you. But call me Hikari, Lee-san."

"Then call me Jenrya, or Jen."

Takato shook his head. "You guys are too formal."

"No, we just have manners." Jenrya retorted.

"I have manners! I'm just casual."

"Too casual that it makes you suspicious."

"Of what?"

Hikari laughed, and the two boys blinked at her. "I'm sorry."

Jenrya smiled. "It's okay. Takato's a natural comedian."

He blinked. "I don't think I'm funny though, Jen-kun, Jun-kun is the one who makes all the jokes." This time both Hikari and Jenrya laughed. Takato just looked back and forth between them, bewilderness plastered on his face. "What?"

"Nothing."

* * *

"Thanks for coming with me, Hikari." Ruki mentioned as they walked down the sidewalk. "I forbid the guys from finding out about this, but I hate going alone."

"No problem, but I'm sure it's not that bad."

"Not that bad? You're crazy. Every time I walk in that building I'm walking straight into hell."

Hikari laughed at Ruki's exaggerations. The girl had dragged her off after school, not giving her a choice in the matter. She'd quickly called Taichi to tell him where she'd be. However, she left out the part that she herself didn't really know where she was going. Ruki didn't tell her; only that it was a place she couldn't bear.

"Well," Ruki said, stopping at the doors of a giant building. "here we are."

It was a six story, light blue business building. The top quarter of it had no windows, which threw Hikari off. There was no name either.  
Nonetheless, she followed Ruki inside.

Ruki strode past everyone and into the elevator, Hikari jogged to keep up. She hit the button for the fifth floor and crossed her arms. It was then that Hikari noticed how tense the other girl was.

"You really hate coming here?"

"Completely."

"Then why do you come?"

"You'll see."

Once the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor, there was a cry of "Ruki~!" The redhead was trapped in a vice grip hug a second later. The attacker was an extremely beautiful blonde woman. Hikari recognized her as the famous international model, Makino Rumiko.

Hikari put two and two together. _She's Ruki's mother!_

"Okay, Kaasan." Ruki pulled herself out of her mother's grasp.

Rumiko noticed Hikari, and her face lit up. "Oh. One of your friends?"

"I'm Yagami Hikari." she bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Makino-san."

She waved a hand. "Please, call me Rumiko. Adding honorifics make me feel old." Ruki gagged behind her mother. Hikari laughed. Rumiko gave a knowing look, glancing at her daughter from the corner of her eyes. "Is Ruki making faces at me again?"

"No, of course not." Ruki said, sarcastically.

"You're right. After all my gentle and kind daughter wouldn't ever do such a thing." she replied with the same tone. The two smiled at each other before laughing. Hikari instantly saw the resemblance. Rumiko turned to Hikari. "Say Hikari, would you like to dress up, too?"

Ruki stepped in front of her mother. "She's only here to keep me company. Can we please just get this over with?"

Rumiko sighed. "Fine, you know what to do."

Ruki dragged Hikari toward the back. "In case you haven't put it together yet, my mom makes me model every once and a while. A bit of an agreement we made a while back, but I still hate it with every fiber of my being." They entered the dressing room, the new attires for Ruki already laid out. "Hmm, only three this time? Kaasan must be about to release something new."

Hikari went out of the room as Ruki dressed. She went over to the set; the photographer was double checking his equipment.

Ruki emerged several minutes later. Hikari's jaw hit the floor at her appearance. The fiery, masculine tomboy she knew donned a strapless lavender dress. It was cut at one end, leaving her left leg to be seen but the other hidden. Ruki's athletic figure was highly emphasized as the fabric wrapped snugly around her body. Despite all her time outside, Ruki's complexion was surprisingly pale, allowing it to blend in with the light shade of the dress. It showed her eyes; contrasting its darker shade of purple. She left her hair up, which, in Hikari's opinion, made the outfit work with Ruki's personality.

"Simply beautiful!" The photographer, Mr. Fujioka, commented, snapping pictures. He gave instructions such as "Tilt your head" or "Move your body this way", all the while taking photos.

Rumiko smiled. "My daughter's so beautiful." Hikari nodded. "You know, before I used to despise how she always wore boys' clothes and got dirty playing sports. It created a gap between us for a while, but once I learned to accept it we've grown closer."

"Children don't always turn out how their parents expect them to. But it's easier to accept their way of life than to force them into a mold. It'll only make both sides upset and angry with each other. That's how families break apart." Hikari said, looking down, eyes narrowed. _If only he'd understood..._

Ruki's mother looked at her. "That's true. You're very wise, Hikari."

Hikari lifted her head, smiling. "Thanks."

As Ruki went in the dressing room to change into the final dress, the building suddenly began to shake. Equipment fell over, and glass shattered.

"An earthquake?_!_" Panic arose. Some screamed. Others ran.

Hikari stood, frozen. Her eyes wide in terror. She vaguely heard Ruki shout "Calm the fuck down!". Her mind slowly started drifting off. Into a nightmare. Into the past.

* * *

_The building was shaking. Inside their bedroom the lamp fell off the desk, shattering on the floor. Taichi held the door shut as his parents tried to open it from the other side. _

_Hikari was frozen, watching the metamorphosis occur in front of her.  
_

_"I-it changed shape."  
_

_"Hikari! Idiot! What are you doing?"  
_

_"Piggyback?"  
_

_Next thing the young girl knew she was falling towards the ground. The wind roared in her ears, temporarily making her go deaf. A monstrous roar rang in her ears as she smashed into the pavement, creating a giant crater.  
_

_"Hikari!"  
_

* * *

"Hikari!" Someone was shaking her. "Hikari!"

She opened her eyes, which had closed at some point, to meet Ruki's worried gaze. Her hands were clenched around Hikari's arms, which had been pressed against her head. Both were knelt down on the floor.

"Are you okay, Hikari? The earthquake stopped."

She blinked a few times, lowering her arms. "Yeah," her voice sounded far-off. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Ruki wasn't convinced. "Kaasan. I'm gonna take Hikari home. She's still a bit out of it."

"Okay, we'll clean things up here. Be careful."

* * *

In another location, the earthquake had worse repercussions. After the white light faded, there was chaos...

"Don't let them escape!"

"Hurry!"

"We gotta go!"

"They're coming!"

"Don't look back! Don't stop running until we've made it far, far away!"

Unknown to everyone, in that moment their destiny was awoken.


	7. Chapter 6

She ran for what seemed like an eternity. The sounds of footsteps faded away long ago. It worried her, it meant that her companions no longer trailed behind. But she kept running. She wouldn't stop until she was far, far away.

Her legs gave way as she jumped down onto a rooftop. She hadn't the energy to pick herself back up. She remained sprawled there, panting. Her muscles burned, but it was a good kind of feeling. It meant that she'd gone far. She was free.

She couldn't hold back the laugh the erupted. In fact she soaked in the feeling of laughing again. Once her mirth died down, her thoughts instantly went to those who had strayed onto a different path of freedom.

"I hope they made it... I hope they're okay."

* * *

Ruki sighed, tossing her bag over her shoulder as she began the trek to school. Her pace was slightly faster than normal; she wanted to get to the school long before the guys. Hikari was always the first one to arrive, except for a few occasions, and after the incident yesterday Ruki wanted to check on the girl.

* * *

_The duo were walking toward Hikari's home from the studio. Hikari hadn't said a word, all the while keeping her eyes glued to the sidewalk. Ruki occasionally tossed glances her way, waiting to see some sort of reaction from the younger girl. _

_As they approached her house, Ruki grabbed her arm. "Hikari, are you alright?"_

_"Fine." she mumbled, still not looking up. _

_"That's a load of shit, Hikari."_

_She lifted her head, forcing herself to meet Ruki's gaze. "I'm okay, really." She forged a smile. "The earthquake just shook me up a bit." She offered a small laugh at her pun. _

_Ruki narrowed her eyes, seeing right through her lie. But she knew she couldn't get Hikari to talk if she didn't want to. Despite only knowing her for a couple weeks, she became quite fond of the timid brunette. "Okay. But if you need to talk, call me alright?" She knew Hikari wouldn't, but she needed to let the offer stand out there. "I'll see you tomorrow."_

* * *

Ruki threw the door open, walking into the classroom. Hikari sat at her desk, head on her hand, staring out the window. Ruki marched over and slammed her hands on the desk, making the other girl jump away.

"R-Ruki?"

She grinned. "Hey!" Hikari only blinked at her. Ruki's expression softened. "How're you feeling?"

"I told you, I'm fine." That was a lie. On top of the earthquake the previous day, Hikari also had a horrid nightmare. She'd woken up flailing and screaming, accidentally hitting Taichi, who'd been trying to console her.

Ruki resisted the urge to scream at her. When dealing with Takuya or Kouji she could interrogate the hell out of them any way she wanted to in order to get an answer. With Hikari she'd have to use a completely different, gentler method.

"Well, since today's Friday, I've decided all of us are gonna spend the weekend together."

"Glad we all agreed to this." came a sarcastic remark that could only belong to Takuya. He sat on the desk that was in front of Hikari's.

"You would've agreed one way or the other." Takuya only grunted before releasing a yawn. The girls looked at him and immediately noticed the obvious shadows under his eyes.

"What?" he asked, noticing their stares.

"Nothing." He glared at Ruki and turned to give the same dirty look to Hikari, only to find she'd gone back to gazing out the window. "We'll most likely meet up at your place, Takuya."

He snapped his head away from Hikari. "Why my place?"

She shrugged. "It's a closer walk for everyone. My house is way too far and you know how the twins are."

Takuya's eyes narrowed. "Yet how I am doesn't matter?"

"It does. We're just used to it. And it's not like it's an actual problem for you. You just like to be difficult."

"Whatever."

* * *

"Takato-kun's absent today?"

Hikari entered her history class and saw Jen sitting by himself. There's only one reason for that.

He frowned. "Yeah. It's weird, though. Takato never misses school, he doesn't really get sick either."

Hikari shrugged. "Everyone misses a day at some point, right?"

Jen stared at her for a moment. He realized that she didn't know Takato like he did, and thus didn't understand the abnormality of it all. He smiled. "I guess you're right. Perhaps I just worry too much."

As the teacher started his lecture, Jen opened his phone under the desk. He sent a quick text to Takato. He had a bad feeling in his chest, and it usually started with the brunette.

* * *

"Oh, beans!" "Ah, excuse me." "Sorry!"

Takato muttered these phrases as he shoved his way through the crowd. His backpack swaying behind him. He'd been on his way to school when his plans suddenly changed.

"Oof!" He finally made it through the crowded square and fell on the concrete. He picked himself up and took off down the back-roads. _Honestly, I thought we'd made it passed this stage. _He lowered his head slightly as his thoughts clouded his head. _Still, that look on his face this morning is what bothers me. Something's wrong. I just know it!_

He slowed down to a halt, exhausted from running all through town. "I've been looking for a couple hours now, where could he have gone?"

A vibration in his pocket drew his attention. He took out his phone; a text message.

_Why aren't you at school? Everything okay? _From: Jen-kun

"Uh.." Jen wasn't aware of his daily chores; Takato never told him. He couldn't well do it now. "Yeah right, he'd think I'd gone bananas." After a moment of quick thinking he replied with:

_Kaasan is sick. So I volunteered to help with the bakery. _

"Jen-kun ought a believe that."

* * *

After school, the quintet strolled along the path that would lead them to the Himi-Kanbara household.

"Aren't Hoshiko and Taiki out of town, Takuya?" Ruki asked. She and the twins were on first name basis with Takuya's aunt and uncle.

He nodded. "For three weeks. Yutaka should be going to work soon, though. So it'll just be Tomoki."

Ruki smirked. "Well, you boys try to control yourselves." She placed her hands on Hikari's shoulders. "Remember, we're vulnerable, innocent young girls." Hikari chortled along with the redhead.

"That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!" Kouji laughed, "Hikari, no doubt. But you, that's just horse crap." His laughter stopped when he saw the dangerous look on Ruki's face. "Don't kill me!"

Kouichi laughed. Ruki was the only person, besides their mother, who terrified him. He looked to Hikari, who walked beside him. "Don't worry, we tone it down when we get to Takuya's. We don't wanna be bad influences to Tomoki."

"It's okay. I've grown used to it. You know, I actually love how you guys act. You love each other for yourselves, you don't let anything bother you, and you have fun no matter what anyone else thinks." Hikari smiled. "It reminds me of my friends back in Odaiba."

He arched a brow. "Really? You should tell me about them sometime. They sound interesting."

She nodded. "One day they'll come visit, and we can all hang out together."

"Sounds like a plan."

Once the bunch made it to Takuya's house, Ruki claimed the couch. "You guys get the floor, us _fragile _ladies get the couch."

_Another sack of horse crap. _Kouji shook his head; he knew Ruki was only playing around. "You know, we should all chip in and order pizza."

Ruki clapped her hands loudly. "Now you're talking!"

"Taki-niichan?" The young, timid, brunette stuck his head out from the staircase. "We have company?" He recognized Ruki, the twins, but he winced upon seeing the last familiar face. "You're the one who-"

"Tomoki!" Takuya snapped all too quickly. His expression softened immediately. "We're having pizza, you like pepperoni, right?" He smiled, nodding his head. Takuya would've sighed with relief, but he knew one of the three would be suspicious about what Tomoki almost said.

"I-I say we go with Domino's!" Hikari abruptly shouted, throwing her hand into the air. Her face flushed when they all turned to look at her, confusion on their faces. _Well, I needed to cut the tension some how..._

A smirk stretched across Kouji's face. "Yeah! This girl gets it!"

"You order, Hikari. I'll find the DVDs." Ruki said as she bounded up the stairs past Tomoki.

"Hey!" Takuya chased after her. "Outta my room!"

"But you have the best ones!"

Hikari laughed, dialing the number she knew by heart. _It's only me and Oniichan's favorite pizza restaurant. _

After a couple rings, a voice said, "_Hello_?"

"Eh?" Hikari blinked, realizing the voice was familiar. "Oniichan?"

"_H-Hikari-chan?_!" Taichi sputtered over the phone.

She laughed. "So, this is your new job?"

"_Hehe, yeah. You know how much I love their pizza._"

"You know you can get fired for eating on the job."

_"I know that! Ahh, you're gonna get me in trouble. Now what do you want?_"

"Horrible customer service, Oniichan."

He growled. "_Fine_." She heard him clear his throat. "_How can I help you, sir_?" He asked in a mockingly sweet tone.

The twins couldn't help but laugh at the completely, un-amused face Hikari put on. Her eyebrows both shot up and her eyes were half-lidded. Her lips in a straight line.

"Three-"

Kouji released a loud cough. "Four!"

"Four large pepperoni pizzas-"

"With a Coke!"

"Dr. Pepper!" Ruki shouted from upstairs.

"Bread sticks are nice." Tomoki mumbled, scratching the back of his head. His face was bright red.

Hikari repeated the order, and for a moment, Taichi was speechless. _"T-That'll be $43.27. And _where_ did you get the allowance for that?_"

"I don't spend it all on soccer equipment or snacks. Plus we're all chipping in."

He sighed. "_Alright. Address_?"

She glanced at Kouichi. "The address?"

"527 Berryblock Drive."

"... Berryblock Drive?"

He shrugged. "We're not exactly on the straight side of town."

"Fair enough." Hikari gave Taichi the address.

"_Alright. It'll be about thirty-five minutes._"

"We're not tipping you." Hikari said in a deadpan tone before hanging up.

The twins doubled over in laughter. Kouji slapped his hand on her shoulder, causing her to wince slightly. "I like this side of you, Hikari! It's completely different from the scaredy cat we know."

She laughed. "W-Well, I'm not usually shy, actually. It's just being in a new place is kinda.. intimidating. Plus, Takuya was my welcoming committee." The twins laughed along with her.

"What was that?" A chilling, deadly voice asked behind her.

Her eyes widened. _Don't turn around. Don't turn around. _

Kouji smirked. "Go on, Hikari. Tell him what you said."

She very subtly shook her head, mouthing 'no'.

"I got the DVDs!" Ruki bounded down the stares, a stack of cases in her arms.

"Great! Pizza will be here in a half hour!" Hikari immediately clings to Ruki, avoiding Takuya's glare. "So, uh, what are we watching?"

Ruki chuckled. "A mixture of horror and comedy. Though we'll wait until it gets dark to watch the horror movies. So a comedy it is!"

"No _White Chicks_!" Kouichi abruptly screamed. "Never again!"

"Damn." Ruki swore. "And that was my first choice." She shuffled through a few cases. Her face lit up. "Okay! We'll watch _A Thousand Words_!"

"Let's go Eddie Murphy!"

"Wanna watch Tomoki?"

"He is _too_ young for that!" Takuya howled.

"Aww come on. I bet he's heard worse at his school. He's 13 for Christ's sake!"

"Ruki!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the five teenagers and one preteen sat around the couch, watching the movie. Ruki and Tomoki were sprawled out on the couch, while Hikari sat stiffly at the far end. The boys laid out on the floor. The pot of their shared money for pizza was stacked on the coffee table.

Ruki nudged Hikari with her foot. "Ne, relax a bit would yah?"

She smiled. "I'm fine. Really."

Before Ruki could make a remark there was a knock at the door. Ruki hit pause, but Takuya stood up. He swiped the money off the table and went to open the door. He opened it to find a young man with wild brown hair fumbling in holding the pizza boxes and bags.

Taichi grinned sheepishly. "H-Here, kid." He passed every thing over, which Takuya held onto with no problem. "Um, is Hikari-chan here?"

Takuya narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Hikari poked her head in, her face lit up in a smile. "Oniichan! You're the delivery boy, too?"

"Ehehe, yeah."

"That's great. We're still not tipping you." She slammed the door.

"H-Hikari-chan!" He whined from outside. "You know I don't approve of you sleeping over with boys!" She reopened the door enough to slide her arm through, a slice of pizza in hand. "That's rotten bribery, Hikari-chan!" He took the offering, regardless. "I'll be calling later to check up on you."

"Hai. Hai." She waved him off. He stomped back to the Domino's car, aggressively eating his pizza. Hikari closed the door, shaking her head. "I swear he's the younger sibling here." She caught Takuya staring at her. "Something wrong?"

"You didn't seem like the scaredy cat we've met."

She laughed. "Kouji said the same thing."

"Oi!" Ruki snatched the pizzas from Takuya. "We're starving." Takuya rolled his eyes before joining his friends back on the couch, Hikari following.

* * *

She leaped up into the thick branches on the tree, panting. Her hairs stood up as she heard loud sniffing, along with loud footsteps. She held her breath, staying absolutely still. Stealth. It was a natural talent.

"Oh, beans! I think we lost it."

"But I can still smell it."

"Er.. I don't know. We're too close to the neighborhood. We better get out of here before someone sees you."

"But-"

"It's not causing any immediate danger, so there's nothing to worry about for the time being."

A high pitched whine sounded through her ears. However, the footsteps faded in the opposite direction. She released a sigh of relief. _It's impossible that they've caught up already. Then again, why would he follow that human willingly if he wasn't a servant?_ She growled. _Disgusting humans. _

Her ears twitched as she caught on to the sound of laughter. She crawled out onto a branch, peering into the window of a house. Six children were gathered around, laughing at whatever they were watching. She barred her teeth. _Why should you get to laugh while you make the rest of us suffer? _

A loud crack stopped her, and she felt herself start to descend. "W-Whoa!" The branched snapped and she collided head first into the ground. "O-Ow..." Her body racked with pain as her world started turning black. Her ears twitched, footsteps were approaching fast. _No... It's over..._

* * *

Hikari gasped, seeing a white cat lying unconscious at the base of the tree. She ran over and knelt beside it, the rest of the gang coming up behind her. "It must've fell. That's what caused the noise we heard."

"Is it dead?"

Hikari checked over the feline. "No. It's breathing, and it doesn't seem like it's hurt. Maybe the impact just knocked it out." She looked at Takuya. "I can't leave it out here."

Takuya wouldn't admit it, but he loved animals, and was just as worried about the creature as Hikari was. He scoffed. "Whatever."

She smiled. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms firmly around the feline and lifted it up. She stroked its head, whispering, "You're gonna be okay. Don't worry."

As they piled back into the house, Takuya scanned the area with his eyes. He checked every nook and cranny of the area, and when he saw no sign of danger, he went inside. He dead bolted the door.

Hikari sat on the couch, placing the animal in her lap. She finally registered in her mind how odd it looked. The tip of its tail was striped purple, as was the tips of its spike ears. Two yellow gloves were glued onto it's two front paws. Hikari scowled; there was nothing she despised more than animal cruelty.

"How does it look?" Ruki asked, sitting beside her.

"It looks alright. But some one glued these gloves on its paws."

Ruki took note of the disdain in her voice. She laughed. "So there's something that gets you mad, after all."

"Mistreating animals is the worst thing anyone can do. They can't defend themselves."

"I hear you."

"It looks so strange." Kouichi noted.

"Maybe it's one of those foreign American cats." Kouji said, "You know how they do weird genetic mutations?"

"That's not even funny!" Hikari shouted at him. They all flinched back at the outburst. Her face went red. "I'm sorry. I-I just-"

"Don't sweat it. You see us argue all the time. A little outburst from you won't effect us."

"Besides, you had a reason. Unlike these ideas."

Hikari smiled.

"It doesn't have a collar." Tomoki noted. "It's a stray. Everyone around here puts collars on their animals."

Hikari's eyes shone. "I could ask my mom about keeping it! I'm sure she'd love to have a cat around, again!"

"You might wanna wait until it wakes up. It could be rabid for all we know."

"I don't think so. It's too beautiful to be rabid."

"You have a weird way of thinking, Hikari."

Takuya narrowed his eyes, glaring at the feline. The cat gave him an eerie feeling. It's fur patterns gave it away. Under no circumstances was that natural. Unnatural things never sat right with him. He knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.


	8. Chapter 7

_"Whoa... Tousan! This is where you work?" Takuya's big eyes scanned over everything in the room. The high-tech computers and the large tubes with substances within them. Of course, him being a child, what held him in awe was all the bright colors. "Ne, ne, what's this?" He attached his eyes to one of the glowing tubes. Inside was a small, squishy looking, floating object. It reminded him of his baby pictures when he was still in his mom's stomach. "Is this where babies come from?"_

_Taiki laughed, ruffling his son's hair. "No. These are simply some experiments that we've been working on. Although, I guess you can say this is where special babies come from."_

_Takuya's eyes widened, he looked at his father frantically. "You mean I'm a test-tube baby?_!_"_

_"No! You were born like all babies were."_

_"But you and Kaasan always said I was special!"_

_Taiki groaned, rubbing his face with his hand. He glanced back at his son and couldn't help but laugh. "You're special alright, Takuya. So special that you were born different from these babies here."_

_Takuya grinned, satisfied with the answer. "Oi, Nya-chan, come lookie!"_

_The younger Kanbara son, Shinya, waddled over beside his brother. He, however, was more focused on the lights. "Pretty."_

_Taiki smiled, watching his two boy's fascination. He turned his head when he heard a sound behind him. His shoulders tensed when he saw his boss had just entered the room. "Hello, sir." he greeted in his natural voice._

_"Taiki-san." The large man looked past his worker, at the two kids. "Those your boys?" By now Takuya had looked up, listening in on the conversation. _

_"Ah, yes. I didn't think it'd hurt if they just stayed in this room. After all, you see-"_

_He laughed, cutting him off. "Relax, Taiki-san. No harm done. They are just children after all." __Takuya pouted. He didn't like the man's deep voice, especially when he said 'children'. "However, if I may speak to you for a moment?"_

_"Of course." Taiki looked back at them. "Takuya, sit tight. Don't snoop into anything, and watch your brother." _

_"Sure thing, Tousan." He watched his father follow his boss out of the room. _

_"Niichan." Shinya tugged on his shirt._

_"I don't like him, either, Nya-chan."_

_The two brothers continued to examine everything else the room contained. There were more tubes with more squishy things inside them. Each one had its own distinct color. They both froze when they heard shouting. It sounded like their father. _

_Their eyes met, and Takuya point a finger to his lips. The boys crept over to the door, and pressed their ears against it. _

_"-can you even consider such a thing!" That was their father. _

_"Please, just listen. Our studies have shown that the connection with children is stronger than that of the adult."_

_"I don't care. This is just sick!"_

_"Do you not realize what this could mean?" The boss's voice began to rise. "Think of what the biomerge could result in? The possibilities? We have a _living_ creature made purely from-" _

_"I don't care! You're not dragging my boys into this!"_

_"Be a little more open minded, Taiki-san. Why, I'm planning on using my own children for this experiment."_

_"You.. You sick son of a-"_

_"Now, Taiki, no need for such foul language. Just think my offer over, and-"_

_"I, said,_ no_!" A loud bang caused the two boys to jump away from the door_.

_Takuya couldn't help it. "T-"_

* * *

"-ousan!" He jumps up, panting. At first all he sees is darkness, but he remembers he's at home. Takuya rubs his hand with his face, groaning. He blinks his eyes, and they adjust. He can now see the lumps around him that are the sleeping forms of his friends. He sighs, relieved he hadn't woken any of them up. _Stupid dreams. _He brushes it off without a second thought.

"Mmm, huh?" A groggy voice mutters.

_Ah hell. _He turns his head, trying to figure out who woke up. He sees one of the lumps rise; the petite form gives away that it's Hikari.

She looks at him, blinking her half-lidded eyes. "Ta.. Takuya?"

"Hn."

"You were screaming, just now."

"You're hearing things. Go back to sleep." He throws himself back on the ground, turning his back toward her.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"No."

"... Wanna talk about it?"

"I told you, I didn't have a damn nightmare!"

"You're lying, though."

"You're starting to piss me off!" he growls. He waits for Hikari's response, only he doesn't get one. He hears her shuffle; probably laying back down to go to sleep. Guilt starts to bubble up inside him. He tries to shove it off. _I don't need to be coddled like some child._ He squeezes his eyes, trying to go back to sleep.

"Hmm?" Hikari makes a questioning noise, and he hears her get up again. "The cat's gone.." she thinks aloud, "It's probably hiding somewhere." She gets up and quietly steps over the sleeping teens. Takuya tenses when she steps near him. She stops, hesitating, before stepping over him as well.

Hikari enters the kitchen, flicking on the light. She glances back in the living room to make sure no one was awoken. They weren't. She looks around, attempting to find any signs of white fur. _Let me think... The cat probably woke up, became spooked since it was in an unfamiliar area, and is probably sneaking around. If I made a noise it would definitely come out, but I'd scare it. Plus the others would wake_ _up_.

She looks around for any open cabinets or tiny spaces the cat might have squeezed through. When she knows the kitchen is clear, she ponders searching the rest of the house. _I don't really know the layout. And Takuya might not appreciate me snooping through his house. _After a minute, she decides the animal's safety is more important than Takuya's anger problem.

After checking the hallways and bathroom (She doesn't attempt the living room nor the garage), she creeps up the stairs. Upstairs is just one big hallway, and only one door is opened.

_Unless the cat can open doors, that's the only room it should be in. _She pokes her head in the room; a bedroom.

The walls are painted a dark red, and the carpet's a contrasting black. Posters are pasted on the walls, a couple are of soccer athletes and others are of anime shows. Some she recognizes as the ones Taichi would watch. She was sort of proud to call herself an Otaku as well, but she keeps that fact to herself.

In the far left corner the bed is neatly made, and in the opposite corner is a desk with a laptop resting on it. A window is cut out of the right wall.

Hikari's eyes stop their voyage, and brighten up when she notices a bundle of white fumbling with the window. She steps into the room and closes the door; the last thing she wants is the cat escaping and having to find it all over again.

The cat's ears twitch when the door clicks shut, and its head whirls around. Icy blue eyes glare at Hikari. The cat hisses.

"It's okay." she says softly, quietly. "I'm not here to hurt you." She sits down on the floor as a submissive gesture; a sign that she means no harm. "It's okay, you're safe here."

"Don't bullshit me, human." The feline spits out.

_W-What?... The cat just... _Hikari's mind completely stops. Her pupil dilate, and her body starts to tremble. _T-That doesn't make any sense. Maybe I imagined it? But I'm sure I didn't. _She looks over the cat. It's gloves, it's abnormal color. _N-No, it can't be a... __And it's here.. I-is he...? _All the color drains from her face.

The cat watches Hikari, smirking slightly. _Good. That human should cower in fear. __In fact, you should feel my pain.. _Our_ pain. _

"_Lightning Paw_!" The cat leaps for Hikari.

The door bursts open. Takuya flicks his leg out and knocks the cat back into the wall. She hisses, brandishing her claws.

"What the hell are you, cat?" He demands. She only bares her teeth at him.

"The hell, Takuya?" Ruki growls, half-asleep. The twins trail behind her like puppies on a leash. Ruki rubs her eyes, and looks down. "Hikari!" she kneels beside the girl, grabbing her shoulders. "What happened?"

Takuya glances back. Hikari is pale, shaking, and looks utterly terrified. He clenches his fist, enraged. "That cat isn't normal. It attacked her."

Kouji notices the feline is standing on two legs. "Yeah, that's not normal." He slowly approaches it. "Here kitty, kitty." Behind them, none of them notice Kouichi slip out of the room.

"Watch out, Kouji." Takuya warns.

"Don't treat me as some mindless animal!" She snaps, swiping her claws out at Kouji.

"Ah hell no." Kouji leaps back. "That thing talks!"

Hikari whimpers, burying her face into Ruki's chest. "Make it go away."

Ruki narrows her eyes, brows furrowing. _Its like back at the studio, when the earthquake happened. _She switches her gaze to the cat, then back to her friend. _What did this girl go through?_ _  
_

Suddenly, a stream of water flies past them and nails the cat dead on. Kouichi stands at the door, re-pumping the large water gun in his hands.

Kouji laughs, "Now I know you're my brother."

The cat shook, her blue eyes on fire. "Lightning Paw!" She jumps at Kouichi, who fires another blast of water. She takes the attack head on, but keeps going. She slices Kouichi's arm. He cries out, dropping the water gun.

"Kouichi!" Kouji howls, "You damn cat!" He dives, landing on the cat. He grabs her by the scruff and presses her into the floor. "You okay, bro?"

The elder twin hisses in pain, pressing his hand firmly against the room. "It hurts, but I don't think it's too bad."

"Alright, Tabby." Kouji says, glaring down at the cat. "What's your deal?"

"No!" She struggles against his grip. "You won't take me back! No way in hell!"

Takuya kneels down, looking her in the eye. "Take you back? What are you talking about?"

"I'm not going back!" Tears start running down the cat's face.

Kouji looks at his best friend, who returns the look. The same thing runs through there heads: _What are we gonna do with it?_

Takuya narrows his eyes. "Alright, cat, we won't take you back. But you have to behave, and tell us what the hell you are."

She scoffs. "Bull. You humans are all liars."

"I _never_ lie."

She glares at him. Something in his voice said he was telling the truth, but could she really trust this group of humans? _The second they turn their backs I'll just make an escape._ She huffs, "Whatever."

Takuya stands up and goes over to Kouichi. "I got some stuff to take care of that. Come on."

Ruki pulls Hikari up with her. "Come on." She speaks gently. She drags the silent girl downstairs. Kouji follows, holding the cat's scruff away at arms length.

* * *

"My name is Gatomon. I'm a Digimon, which is short for Digital Monster. I was created in a lab several years ago, along with handfuls of others. Our biological structure is made purely out of data codes. My friends and I escaped a couple days ago. We got separated, and I've been wandering around this city looking for them. Last night I was being hunted by one of the enslaved digimon and his human master. I lost them when I hid in the tree, but I fell. I woke up surrounded by you people, and tried to find a way out. That's when that girl found me." Gatomon explains, dipping her head at Hikari.

"Digital Monsters, huh?" Kouji lets the idea swim around in his head. "Kinda hard to swallow, don'tcha think?"

"I believe it." Takuya's voice is strained.

"They'll be looking for you, won't they?" Hikari asks quietly. Ruki sits beside her, a hand on her shoulder.

"Probably, but I'm not going back." Gatomon shudders. "That place is the very definition of cruel."

"They tortured you, didn't they?"

Gatomon blinks, surprised. "Yes, how did you know?"

She only looks down.

"Hikari," Ruki starts, "Do you know something about this? About the digimon?"

"I..."

Takuya walks over, bending down in front of her. She looks him in the eyes, and sees a slight trace of pain in them. "Tell me. What do you know?"

She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. "My.. My father..." She opens her eyes. Her voice cracks as she says, "My father is the one in charge of that Digimon project. He was the first Monster Maker."

"You're his _daughter_?!" Gatomon spits, all her fur stands up.

"Your father," Takuya's voice is thick with hatred. "is the boss?" He stands up, pulling Hikari off her feet by her shirt collar.

"Takuya!" his friends shout.

"Where is he?" he demands.

"We left him in Odaiba." Hikari answers. A tear leaks from her eye. "He's the reason we moved. In order to keep everyone else alive."

Takuya's eyes widen. He slowly sets her back on the ground. His eyes slowly lower to the floor.

"What's the deal, Takuya?" Kouji asks.

He looks back at Gatomon, then sighs. "I believe we're all in really, big, trouble."

* * *

"Why do I have to live with you?" Gatomon sneers, struggling to get comfortable in Hikari's arms.

"Because I'm the only one who has room for you. Plus I said beforehand that I would take you home."

"Just great. Of all people I get stuck with Susumu's _daughter_."

Hikari's lips press into a thin line. Her father's name still made her tremble. After her revelation at Takuya's place, she refused to offer any more information. Thankfully, they backed off. However, Takuya's verdict had put everyone on edge. None of them went to sleep again, just spent the time buried deep in their thoughts.

Hikari stops when she steps on her porch. She looks down at Gatomon, who gives her a bored expression. "We going in or what?"

"Okaasan and Oniichan will know what you are, too. You'll probably freak them out."

She scoff. "Me? Freak them out? _I'm_ the one who's stuck with a bunch of humans ten times my size."

"Well, either way you need to just hide out in my room." Hikari puts her hand on the doorknob. "And no talking." She opens the door. "I'm home."

No answer.

"Maybe everyone's out?" She quickly walks to her room, shutting and locking the door. Instantly, Gatomon jumps out of her arms and onto the bed.

"Not bad." she compliments, examining her new home. "Pretty spacious. Yeah, I can hide out in here."

Hikari opens the door. "I'm going to make lunch. What, er, exactly do you eat? I guess cat food's outta the question?"

"Do you have any fish? They never gave me any, but I've heard it's wonderful."

She giggles. "I think I can find some."

As Hikari prepares the food, she allows her mind to fully process the events that just occurred. The Digimon Project her father started all those years ago managed to follow her all the way to Shibuya. And now she has to take care of Gatomon, a relic from the past she wanted so desperately to forget. She remembers how adamant her father was on maintaining the project. He wouldn't allow a bunch of digimon to escape. He'd hunt them down.

_It's only a matter of time. But... I can't allow Okaasan and Oniichan to live in fear again. _She feels the tears welling in her tear ducts, but she blinks them away.

Her phone rings, jostling her out of her thoughts. She pulls her phone out of her pocket, looking at the number on the glowing screen. She doesn't recognize it. _I shouldn't answer. It could be... No, he doesn't work that obviously. _ Taking the chance, she presses the answer button. "Hello?"

"_We need to talk._" Takuya says.


End file.
